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08/31/2065
Wilmington, Montreal, and Windy City all go 5-2, while New York and New Orleans go 4-2. The Cyclones are long out of it, but Windy City now has a half game lead in the Bock while the Lager is still ridiculous. The Voodoo had the fifth best record last week, and lose a game in the standings. To be fair they resigned themselves to being a Wild Card team a bit ago, but they are now 4.5 games out of hosting a first round series. Thems the breaks when the top three teams in the Power Rankings are from your division. On the other side of life Pawtucket and Denver went 1-6 to kill their playoff hopes. The Patriots are at 0.0%, which isn't great, and Denver comes in with a 2.9% chance of playing in the postseason, which isn't much better. There's always next year.
Power Rankings
1) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (115.3, o)
2) Wilmington Wildcats (112.7, +)
3) Montreal Exports (109.8, +)
4) Windy City Blues (109.5, ++)
5) Hartford Whalers (106.9, +)
6) Dallas Drillers (106.5, --)
7) New Orleans Voodoo (103.4, +)
8) Los Angeles Dinos (101.8, +)
9) Seattle Pilots (98.8, ++)
10) California Kodiaks (96.4, +)
11) Carolina Tobs (95.4, --)
12) Batavia Muckdogs (94.6, ++)
13) Washington Bats (93.7, --)
14) Pittsburgh Millers (85.7, -)
15) Toronto Canadians (84.6, +)
16) Philadelphia Freedom (84.0, -)
17) Indianapolis Clowns (83.0, -)
18) New York Cyclones (76.6, ++)
19) Baltimore Bulldogs (75.2, o)
20) Denver Bulls (71.9, -)
21) Pawtucket Patriots (69.2, -)
22) Phoenix Roadrunners (65.0, o)
23) Maine Guides (60.2, +)
24) Syracuse Snappers (58.8, -)
Performance of the Week
RF Nathan Stiso - Against Dallas on August 26th he had four at bats, four hits, three home runs, and seven runs driven in as the Voodoo won 13-2. His game score of 129 is second best this season as Stisco has been on a tear. He now leads the league with 42 home runs while hitting .277/.348/.586. Stisco hit 18 home runs in 2063, and now has 87 in the last two seasons. Might be time for a "random" test.
Prospect of the Week
2B Zebulon Oviatt - The Oregon State junior will be eligible for the draft next season and is a lifetime .308/.353/.475 hitter for the Beavs. He's played 92 games at second base for them and scouts love his work ethic and adaptability. He won't strike out much, but he won't walk much either. This past season in 184 at bats he had as many strikeouts (13) as he did walks (9) and HBP (4) combined.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. It's roster expansion as every team in the league can add two players to their 26-man roster...which by our math makes it a 28-man roster. It also means the playoffs are right around the corner! In the Domestic it's all but set as the Lager will send five and the Ale will send Hartford. After a stellar 2-5 week, the Millers are now down to 4.1%, while Indy checks in a 1.0%. Pawtucket threw in the towel this past week as well, and Syracuse and Maine have been out of it for over a month. In the Import the big races are who's going to win the division as eight teams are within five games of the two division leads. In the Stout it's Carolina vs Washington (as of now), with the loser possibly heading on the road for a Wild Card series. The Tobs are 5-4 against the Bats this season, with three more to play. In the Bock it's Windy City vs Los Angeles (as of now part two), where the Dinos have a 5-4 lead. Batavia and California are lurking though in their respective divisions.
2. Congrats to Wilmington legend Evan Turner, who smashed his 400th career home run this past week. And what a home run it was. In the bottom of the 12th, Turner was the lead-off batter in his sixth plate appearance of the night. It didn't take long for history to happen as on the first pitch from Stedman Ortiz, Turner smashed it 400 feet and over the right field wall for his historic home run. The almost 45k in attendance went bonkers as fireworks lit up the night sky at 11:48 PM ET. Turner is the 70th player in the history of the league to reach 400 home runs, and at just 31 years old he could easily reach 500+ before his career is over.
3. Speaking of Wilmington, what a game it was when they played Indy on August 27th. Clowns pitcher Billy Zook tossed a five-hit shutout where he struck out four and walked two, while only throwing 102 pitches. Meanwhile five Wildcats pitchers combined to allow 18 runs on 19 hits, while throwing 189 pitches. The Clowns hit three doubles, two triples, and four home runs to go with their 10 singles. Indy posts a lineup (against RHP) where six of their first even batters have 15 or more home runs, and the other is leadoff man Ray Ayres who has 13. In the end though it was all for naught, as the Clowns are 65-68 thanks to a pitching staff which is 12th in home runs allowed and 9th in runs allowed in the Domestic.
4. We have a Frank 'Slugger' Memmi sighting again in Maine. The 36-year-old slugger has won the DL Player of the Week award, his first one since 2062. Playing on a one-year, $650k contract, 'Slugger' has hit .243/.349/.504 with 29 HR and 66 RBI this season. After crushing 119 home runs from 2061-2063 with the Guides, he went to Hartford on a one-year deal where he hit .235/.353/.472 with 35 HR and 75 RBI. He was not re-signed and ended up back at Maine, where he told reporters early in the season he was "ecstatic to be." For those that don't remember, Memmi was a free agent who entered the league in 2056 and signed a 6-year deal with California for $126m. After three so-so seasons he was released, and Maine picked him up cheap. Since his debut in 2057 he's slugged 282 home runs, putting him fourth overall in that time frame...and that's counting his 2060 season where he only hit two!
5. What's on tap? Interleague, interleague, we all love interleague. This week just features possible Brewmaster Cup match-up after match-up.
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Streaking
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| Team Streaks |
| Montreal visits California on a 5-game win streak |
| Batavia hosts Pawtucket on a 4-game win streak |
| Windy City hosts Santo Domingo on a 4-game win streak |
| Pawtucket visits Batavia on a 4-game losing streak |
| Philadelphia hosts Syracuse on a 4-game losing streak |
| Denver hosts Maine on a 6-game losing streak |
| Player Streaks |
| Derell Machuca (MON) has an RBI in 6 straight games |
| Martin Bowden (SDR) has converted 12 straight save opportunities |
| Rice Cochell (SDR) has won 12 straight decisions |
| Jason Decker (MAI) has lost 13 straight decisions |
| Rice Cochell (SDR) hasn't lost in 18 straight starts |
Who's Hot
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Stat of the Week
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| Largest Drop In Wins With No Significant Drop In Innings (Top 25 Players, Min 80% IP in 2nd season) |
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