At the 20 game mark!

There are enough games done in the season so far to see some strong teams living up to the hype, and some other teams outperform what may have been expected from them this year.  Let's take a quick look around the league, the divisions, and the craft beers they represent...

Commissioner's opinion - Best name for a beer, who wouldn't want to order a Dirty Bastard?!

The Dirty Bastard division is led by a somewhat surprising Pittsburgh Phantoms squad. We knew the young Phantoms were just about done rebuilding and getting ready to truly compete, but they may be a bit ahead of schedule based upon their outstanding 13-7 record thus far.  Real-life minor leaguer Miguel Sano is pacing Pittsburgh with a solid .381, 7 HR, 15 RBI stat line.  Charlie Morton (3-0, 0.65 ERA) and James Paxton (2-0, 2.54) anchor a strong pitching rotation.  Rookie manager Michael Walter has his team in 2nd place, and based upon his torrid playing pace, may be soon lobbying for 162 game season!  Mike has his Grizzlies performing well, with a solid bullpen (2.36 ERA thus far) making up for a not-so-hot rotation (5.62 ERA).  Lake Erie and Wichita are off to slowish starts, but have plenty of time to climb up the standings.  Commodore 2B Jose Altuve is hitting at an impressive .380 clip, just .001 behind Sano for 2nd place in the batting race.

Commissioner's opinion - Beer itself, 8 out of 10.  The label featuring

a chicken in an Elvis costume?  10 of 10!

 CAW!  I mean, BAWK!  Use whatever avian sound you want, it won't distract from just how stacked this division is.  Steve Tufte and his Toronto Thunder are off to a blistering 17-6 start, outscoring opponents 132-105.  Dylan Bundy and Chris Sale are a combined 9-1!  Toronto has four hitters comfortably over the .3000 mark (Tim Beckham, Marwin Gonzalez, the ageless Adrian Beltre, and Brett Gardner).   Kansas City is just 2 games out but their all-or-nothing offense (48 homers and 248 K's in 29 games) leads to some inconsistent play.  Alex Cobb, back from a year-long stint on the DL, is 4-0 with a tidy 1.98 ERA.  Khris Davis leads the Butcher sluggers with 9 homers in 110 at bats.  This softball team is last in the league in steals with just 5 over 29 games, but on the bright side, we haven't been thrown out yet!  The Loggers take a backseat to no team, and are in contention with an 11-10 start and plenty of time to control their own destiny.  JD Martinez is being treated with kid gloves due to low at bats in the AL last year (just 15 at bats so far in the Friendship League) but is hitting an insane .533 and slugging 1.200!!!  Haven't seen a bench threat like that since Rudy Pemberton in 1996.  And no one will forget the Boston Bobcats are in this division, you can count on them being heard in what should be a compelling pennant race!

Commissioner's opinion - Hops on hops on hops!  This is for your 

more hardcore beer fans, pass me another blueberry infused fruity light beer

I am betting on a team from a city or state with the letter 'M' taking this division!  Michigan and Minnesota are off to fine starts, and Mount Pleasant is lurking just below the .500 mark.  The Men from Minnesota are well balanced again, and I am struck by the United Nations group making up their top five batting average hitters - Omar Narvaez (Venezuela), Didi Gregorius (Netherlands), Melky Cabrera (Dominican Republic) , Jose Abreu (Cuba), and Shin-Soo Choo (South Korea).  Diversity is working in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!  Michigan has a sparkling team ERA of 2.61 right now, making up for a somewhat anemic .234 team batting average.  Mount Pleasant has been getting strong contributions from Eddie Rosario (.313, 14 runs) and Mike Trout (.302, 5 HRs) with the ancient relic Albert Pujols surprisingly leading the team in RBIs with 15.  Most interesting stat of the year so far?  Mount Pleasant's 9 wins are all distributed among 9 different pitchers!!!  Yep, 1 win is the current record for the Train Wreck staff.  Las Vegas is currently leading the battle for next year's #1 draft pick.  Jose Ramirez is playing at an MVP level for the Fremonts (.355, 6 HRs, 6 steals, 12 RBIs) and Dixon Machado is actually sitting right on .400 right now, after 25 at bats.


UPDATE:  After I wrote this, I got three more games from Doug and PJ.  Mount Pleasant won 2 of those games and now has 11 total wins.  Amazingly, the Train Wreck now have ELEVEN different pitchers all with just ONE win! Come on, Scott Alexander and Zach Britton, you two are slacking with your zero wins!

New Park Name for Montreal's Stadium

At a special to be determined date, the current Pea Soup Park has been renamed. GM Mike Walter had this to say: "As the new owner of the previous Philly Phog, I am renaming the stadium to fit my team identity and strip the former. As new corporate sponsor, the new stadium name is: Taco Bell Park! The stadium has had quarrels with the Toronto Thunder, so the park image for next season will be: Cincinnatis.

Montreal Grizzlies early surprises and GM Mike Walter's First Public Announcement

Montreal is off to a surprised start to season as the Grizzlies are plying .500 ball through the teams first 27 games.

Grizzlies Manager Mariano Rivera is pleased with the teams performance in every aspect of the game. Rivera said this following a recent game vs. the Michigan Mammoths. "We played really well tonight. Everything just worked out, from the back to back to back HR's from Santana, Sanchez and Frazier, to the pitching from our bullpen, (Ozuna pitched the 8th and 9th innings for his first save of the season). (Montreal won this contest with a 5-4 final score.)

Other Notes this season:

Montreal Grizz Pitchers Jordan Zimmerman ERA north of 7.08. GM Mike Walter: "I knew this was coming in based off of the horrific season he had a year ago but I didn't realize I'd have to have my team give him at least 8 runs a game just to give Zimm a Win". JZimm is 1-2 on the season so far.

Michael Brantley and Mallex Smith: Both are having great seasons with their batting averages thus  far. Brantley and Smith batting close to .299

The Bullpen:

GM Mike Walter on his bullpen:

"I knew having 3 closers on this roster  could be a good thing as the starters go 6 and then its 7, 8, 9 with Colome, Ozuna and Robertson. The team is doing well when this happens in games that are decided by 3 runs or fewer. Colome has struggled the most thus far but Robertson has embraced his new closing music theme. His music coming into the 9th is nothing like any other closer has had ever in the history of the game. The Song: "Country Roads bring me home" by John Denver is what blares over the speakers at Pea Soup Park and Fans are confused but if it seals the win for the Grizzlies they do not care. Robertson on his early season success and fandom of John Denver.

"I don't know why I love this song but it gets me pumped. I just think on the mound:
Take me home, get the win for Montreal. It works every time thus far and my 4 saves and 0.00 ERA are contributed to this."

Rivera on Robertson: "He's been outstanding thus far. Still early in the season but glad to see our closer having success and closing the door on teams. We need that type of consistency in close games. I'd be out there if I could but I am managing right now and its all good.