The 2024 Friendship League season began with an exciting battle of big offenses, as the Wichita Bandits came from behind to beat the Kansas City Butchers 12-9! KC started the season with a bang, rolling up five runs in the first inning. The Bandits were pretty quiet until the bottom of the 6th, when they narrowed the score to 5-4 in KC's favor. The Butchers answered immediately with a 4 run 7th, and felt in control as they went to the bottom of the 8th leading 9-4. The Bandits, though, summoned some hometown magic and exploded for EIGHT runs in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead. Randy brought in elite closer Mason Miller (the THIRD Bandit pitcher named Miller in this game!) and three quick strikeouts ended this crazy game and send the Wichita fans home happy! .
Monday, March 31, 2025
AI Mascots
Including all of Scott's Friendship League mascots for your reference, or your use, or (for some of these!) as fuel for your nightmares!
Draft Weekend recap!
Thanks to all for a great Draft Weekend! Extra thanks to Daniel Steines for setting us up at the hotel and to Scott Mallon for his multi-faceted role as host/AV support/AI story writer/hot dog chef extraordinaire!
Here are a few links from the weekend
Scott's AI Stories and Mascots
Sharing a few pictures from the weekend...
Steve's colorful team cards
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Bingo action was booming, much to the delight of Steve W. |
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The Mall-O-Matic Hot Dog System! |
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Draft Room Action #2 |
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Draft Room Action #3 |
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Draft Room Action #4 |
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PJ, Standy, and Steve |
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Friday, March 14, 2025
Wichita Protection List
Thursday, March 13, 2025
One more protected player for Montreal
The Grizzlies had 16 protected players, they are adding Christian Javier as their 17th protected player
Maine Loggers Announce 2025 Protected List
Commissioner Standy Willnus, announces the Loggers protection and cuts list.....
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Michigan Mammoths protecteds and cuts
Always use protection with these guys:
Zack Gelof
Nathaniel Lowe
M.J. Melendez
Ryan Mountcastle
Ryan O'Hearn
Logan O'Hoppe
Jeremy Pena
Luke Raley
Matt Vierling
Connor Wong
Brayan Bello
Beau Brieske
Nathan Eovaldi
Pablo Lopez
Kenta Maeda
J.P. Sears
Framber Valdez
Yu Darvish: Kyle Bradish
Cut these bums:
Jay Jackson
Sam Hentges
Matt Manning
Edouard Julien
Akil Baddoo
Manuel Margot
Kevin Kiermaier
Zack Short (no card)
Yoan Moncada (no card)
Jovani Moran (no card)
Jarred Kelenic (no card)
Kansas City Butchers Protected List and Cuts
The Butchers will protect the following players...
Alex Bregman
Jason Foley
Riley Greene
Tommy Kahnle
Zack Littell
Michael Lorenzen
Josh Lowe
Dylan Moore
Bailey Ober
Cal Raleigh
George Springer
Giancarlo Stanton
Justin Turner
Andrew Vaughn
Anthony Volpe
Gavin Williams
Ryan Yarbrough
We will cut the following players..
Austin Hays
Cole Irvin
Michael Kopech
Curtis Mead
John Schreiber
And we will assign Wander Franco as our Yu Darvish player.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Champion Mount Pleasant Train Wreck Protection List
Your 2023 Friendship League champion's roster for the 2024 season.
Hitters:
Correa, Carlos - SS
Guerrero Jr, Vlad - 1B
Lewis, Royce - 3B
Meadows, Parker - CF
Naylor, Josh - 1B
Rocchio, Brayan - SS
Rojas, Josh - 3B
Rutschman, Adley - C
Trout, Mike - CF
Varsho, Daulton - LF
Wells, Austin - C
Pitchers:
Allen, Logan - SP
Gausman, Kevin - SP
McKenzie, Triston - SP (from Yu Darvish)
Thornton, Trent - RP
Winckowski, Josh - RP
Bautista, Felix - RP
Yu Darvish - Shane McClanahan, SP
Cuts:
Armstrong, Shawn - RP
Maton, Phil - RP
Romano, Jordan - RP
Brown, Seth - RF
No Cards:
Merrifield, Whit - NC
Pratto, Nick - NC
Suarez, Eugenio - NC
Diekman, Jake - NC
Giolito, Lucas - NC
Graveman, Kendall - NC
Peralta, Wandy - NC
Waldichuck, Ken - NC
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Fremont Protection List
Clevinger (nc)
Duvall (nc)
Grandal (nc)
Paxton (nc)
Sewald (nc)
Straw (nc)
Taylor (nc)
Toussaint (nc)
Lange (nc)
Sborz (nc)
.369/.453/.829
6-2 2.28 ERA 0.96 WHIP 10.7 K/9 0.8 HR/9
Ohtani was the 2023 league MVP, an All Star on the bump and etched his name in the record books:
36 HRs – 7th most ever
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Friendship League World Series: Mount Pleasant vs Lake Erie
After yet another long, treacherous season, it’s been
whittled down to the final two teams – Mount Pleasant Train Wreck and Lake Erie
Commadores.
Mount Pleasant leveled the monolithic Las Vegas Fremonts 4-1
in the previous round behind great pitching and just enough offense. Lake Erie,
meanwhile, slugged their way past the free wheelin’, base-stealing Wichita
Bandits in a sweep.
Game 1 – MTP (McClanahan) at LE (Cole)
Gerrit Cole toed the rubber as Lake Erie’s ace, sharing the
mound with lefty Shane McClanahan. Cole took his second lowest ERA and threw
the first pitch of the Friendship League World Series that Whit Merrifield smacked
over his head for the first hit of the game. Unsatisfied, Merrifield stole
second and Royce Lewis drove him home on another single taking a very early 1-0
lead. Cole settled in and started to cruise after that, sitting down 11 of the
next 12 batters. McClanahan made quick work of the first six outs before Martin
Maldonado popped a solo shot to tie it back up. Very little happened until Mike
Trout stepped to the plate to start the 7th, with manager Doug Ebbole pointing
out how timely a Trout home run would be, Trout reared back and did, in fact,
launch a ball over the wall to take a 2-1 lead. Another pair of singles finally
drove Cole from the game as LE called on Michael King to hold runners. Josh
Naylor and Royce Lewis kept the hit parade going, pushing the lead to 4-1.
Mount Pleasant handed off McClanahan’s quality start to Kendall Graveman, who
gave way to Jordan Romano. Felix Bautista made quick work to close the game and
steal game 1 from Lake Erie.
Final Score, Mount Pleasant 5-2
Game 2 – MTP (Gausman) at LE (Bassitt), MTP 1-0
Looking for revenge, Chris Bassitt hopes to even the series
against Mount Pleasant’s ace Kevin Gausman. Both pitchers went right to work,
combining for 10 strikeouts in the first four innings. Cade Marlowe’s triple
finally put points on the board, scoring two runs for a Lake Erie 2-0 lead. Errors
at 3B and SS scored two more runs, upping the lead to 4-0 with Bassitt still
dealing. A Seth Brown RBI got MTP on the board at 4-1. Pete Fairbanks notched a
hold, giving way to the league’s saves leader Chris Martin. A walk and single
to lead off the inning made Martin sweat, bringing Brown back up representing
the tying run. On the crack of the bat, the ball topped of the dirt and
straight to second base for the double play! With the pressure off, Martin
collected the save and evened up the series heading to Mount Pleasant.
Final Score, Lake Erie 4-1
Game 3 – LE (Verlander) at MTP (Allen), tied 1-1
After navigating around the lake, the series moved to Mount
Pleasant with lefty Logan Allen squaring off against Justin Verlander. This
game got cranking out of the gate. Lake Erie strung together some hits to
collect two runs in the first inning but the Train Wreck answered back to end
the first inning at 2-1 and another two runs to send Allen to the bench with
the score.4-1. Mount Pleasant wouldn’t go easy, as manager Doug Ebbole, again
commenting how timely a Trout homer here would be, watched in terror as Trout
AGAIN cranked a two run homer. Seth Brown made it back-2-back and tied the game
4-4 just like that. Mauricio “The Wheel of” Dubon had good fortune on an RBI
double to take back the lead. The bullpens finally settled the game down in the
5th and 6th before Jose Altuve and Espinal added insurance runs. Chris Martin took
the pill in a 7-4 ballgame and shut down the heart of order for the victory.
Final Score, Lake Erie 7-4
Game 4 – LE (Cole) at MTP (Armstrong), LE 2-1
Gerrit Cole stepped back to the mound while Mount Pleasant leaned
on their bullpen for a pitching chaos game, in what both managers agreed would
be the turning point of the series. Shawn Armstrong started the party, nearly
making it three innings before handing it off to Jake Diekman. Seth Brown mashed
another homer giving Mount Pleasant an early 2-0 lead. A two-run homer from
Espinal evened the score. Cole ran into trouble again when Vlad Guerrero’s
moonshot home run made it 5-2. Kendall Graveman took the mound and immediately
got pummeled by a walk and two hits. With a score of 5-3, the bases loaded, and
no outs, Mount Pleasant tapped their closer Felix Bautista early in the sixth inning.
He immediately delivered a double-play and strikeout to limit the damage and
end the inning tied 5-5. Some small ball resulted in a Royce Lewis single to
give Mount Pleasant the 6-5 lead where they continued to pass the bullpen
baton. Giolito gave way to Jordan Romano who shut down the top of the LE order
to even the series. Gerrit Cole got tagged for the loss and Mount Pleasant used
seven pitchers and timely subs to secure the win.
Final Score, Mount Pleasant 6-5
Game 5 – LE (Bassitt) at MTP (McClanahan), tie 2-2
Game 1 winner McClanahan and Game 2 winner Bassitt matched up
for a pivotal game 5. Bassitt kept cooking with three shutout innings before
the wheels fell off during a five-run 4th inning. Varsho launched a three-run
homer that Mount Pleasant never looked back from. Santander blasted a three-run
homer of his own to make it 5-3 but after another strong start from McClanahan,
Mount Pleasant was never in real danger. Graveman and Thornton each recorded
holds and Bautista recorded his second save of the series.
Final Score, Mount Pleasant 6-3
GAME 6 – MTP (Gausman) at LE (Montgomery), MTP 3-2
The series headed back to the Commadore’s nest. Both men
started out strong, cruising through four innings, including Gausman striking
out the side in the third. Lake Erie struck first on back-to-back singles
before Luis Rengifo singled home a run to make it 1-0. The Train Wreck struck
right back after big Josh Naylor stole second base and Mike Trout slammed his third
home run of the series to take a 2-1 lead. Montgomery shook it off and retired
the next four batters he saw and avoided trouble until the 6th when a single
and error put two runners in scoring position. Lake Erie went to the bullpen and
Erik Swanson delivered, securing a pop out and strikeout to prevent further
damage. Gausman kept the Ks coming, ending his day after 8 complete innings and
14 strikeouts – just what Mount Pleasant needed after ravaging the bullpen.
Josh Naylor delivered another insurance run to bring a 3-1 lead into the 9th and
a taste of the championship on the tongue.
Felix Bautista took the mound with the weight of Mount
Pleasant/Monterrey’s history never closing the deal for a championship on his
shoulder.
Bautista induced a weak ground out from Moniak, struck out
Santander with ease, and another fastball resulted in a slow roller that was
scooped and thrown to first base to complete the game. Mount Pleasant is
your 2023 Friendship League champion!
Despite falling short in the championship last season and
inheriting Monterrey’s history of six recorded championship appearances without
a win, The Mount Pleasant Train Wreck win it all!
MVP was a tight race between Josh Naylor, Shane McClannahan
and Kevin Gausman but McClannahan earned it by going 2-0, giving up just 4
earned runs across 11 innings and striking out 13. The lefty had pivotal wins
against Gerrit Cole and Chris Bassitt.
Monday, March 3, 2025
Lake Erie Commodores protected list
Permission to come aboard:
Altuve 2b, Diaz c, Regifo 3b/2b, Caballero ss/3b/2b, Moniak c/l/r, Dubon l/c/2b, Santander rf, Isbel cf, Bassitt sp, Cole sp, Verlander sp, LeClerc rp, Bernardino r/op, Fairbanks cl, Martin rp, Tate rp, Springs sp.
Yu Darvish = Swanson rp.
Walking the plank:
Maldonado c, Jankowski of, Noda 1b, Gibson NC, Hernandez NC, King NC, Marlowe NC, Middleton NC, Montgomery NC, Pruitt NC, Scholtens NC.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Lake Erie broadsides Wichita. Game recaps.
Monday, February 3, 2025
Series Recap: Mount Pleasant vs Las Vegas
Game 1
MVP and incredible human Shohei Ohtani gets the pill to
start the playoffs for Las Vegas, squaring off against Mount Pleasant’s Logan
Allen. Allen, picked up via draft day trade in the early second round, wasn’t
the best starter all season but possessed a left-handed delivery to set the
tone for Mount Pleasant’s gameplan.
The action started early with LV’s Taylor Ward driving in
Triston Casas with an RBI double, taking a 1-0 lead in the first. Casas knocked
in an RBI double in the second inning to increase the lead to 2-0. Mount
Pleasant soon fought back, as big Josh Naylor lead off the fourth inning with a
solo home run but Ohtani didn’t appreciate that, so he lead of the fifth inning
with a solo home run himself to make it 3-1.
Things got a little wonky in the sixth, it’s worth noting. Because
we don’t use the ghost runner extra innings rule in the playoffs, the file is
preset to use the 2020 ruleset. The issue with that is the current 2023 ruleset
includes the new rule that allows you to replace your pitcher without replacing
them in the lineup. We learned this the hard way after Ohtani walked the bases
loaded and Mike Trout staring him down, ready for revenge for the World Baseball
Classic. Paul Sewald replaced Ohtani on the mound, moving him to RF, and
punched out Trout to end the threat.
LV was able to hold down the fort until the 8th inning. Whit
Merrifield’s base hit and steal prepped him to score on a Royce Lewis RBI
single. Lewis then stole second base, again taking advantage of Ryan Pressly’s
inability to hold runners. Vlad Guerrero Jr. collected his first hit of the
game at just the right time to drive home Lewis and tie the game 3-3. LV again
went to the bullpen for Nick Sandlin with Mike Trout to the plate. He was able
to drop one in front of Ohtani in RF but further threats were shut down with a
timely strikeout.
Mount Pleasant tapped Jordan Romano to hold the 8th inning
and he delivered with a 1-2-3 inning. With the game tied, LV subbed Touki
Toussaint to pitch the 9th. His nerves got the best of him when Adley Rutschman
started with a single, and a clutch pinch hit home run from Austin Wells pushed
Mount Pleasant in the lead 5-3! Felix Bautista was called upon for the save
situation and struck out the first two batters. Ohtani, still trying to rescue
the game, clubbed another solo home run, but Bautista notched the save after a
Marcus Semien ground out.
Final Score – Mount Pleasant 5, Las Vegas 4. Romano
(Win), Toussaint (Loss), Bautista (Save)
Game 2, MTP 1- 0
The second game in Las Vegas showcased Kutter Crawford on the
mound for LV and ace Kevin Gausman for MTP. Crawford had a great season, tying
for the second most wins in the league with 10. Gausman was a top pitcher in
the league and a strikeout machine, leading the league with 154, 24 more than
second place.
MTP pounced early with a Royce Lewis solo HR, yet young
Kutter didn’t get rattled. He posted zeros over the next four innings,
including seven Ks. Gausman didn’t waver either, pitching a shutout through
five innings and nine Ks.
LV blinked again in the sixth, when Crawford gave up a
double, single, then double to force a move to the bullpen for Josh Sborz with
the score now 3-0. He didn’t fare much better, giving up more runs as the
inning mercifully ended with the score 7-0 Mount Pleasant.
Gausman finished with 12 strikeouts across seven innings as
his offense racked up 12 hits amongst seven different batters in this shellacking.
Final Score – Mount Pleasant 9, Las Vegas 0. Gausman (Win),
Crawford (Loss)
Game 3, MTP 2-0
The underdogs flipped the script heading back to Mount
Pleasant. MTP starts lefty Shane McClanahan while the Fremonts counter with
Nick Pivetta, who lead the team in innings pitched as a steady workhorse.
McClanahan severely underperformed on the season, posting a 5.06 ERA. Still, he
was called upon to again pressure LV to hit lefties.
Casas didn’t care and hit a leadoff triple on the first
pitch of the game. Rob Refsnyder scratched across the first run from a
grounder. McClanahan settled in afterward, getting out of a jam in the fourth
before finally getting pulled in the sixth. Pivetta, on the other hand, was
nearly perfect by retiring 16 of the first 17 batters he faced.
LV finally strung together enough hits for Marcus Semien to notch
a ribby and pad the now 2-0 lead. Pivetta gave way to Josh Sborz, who locked it
down 1-2-3, who gave way to Ryan Pressly. But Pressly continued to struggled,
allowing a homer to Rutschman in the bottom of the 8th. Now trying their best
to hang onto the lead and not let the series hit 3-0, Alex Lange stepped on the
mound with everything on the line. He struck out Mike Trout, got Game 1 hero
Austin Wells to foul out, and caught Seth Brown off-balance with a weak ground
out to end the game and begin the comeback.
Final Score – Las Vegas 2, Mount Pleasant 1. Pivetta
(Win), McClanahan (Loss), Lange (Save)
Game 4, MTP 2-1
Pitching Chaos was back in the form of a Train Wreck. Shawn
Armstrong stepped onto the bump for MTP with a clear game plan as an opener.
Las Vegas leaned on blossoming starter Reese Olson in an attempt to tie up the
series.
Armstrong struck out two in the first while Olson responded
by sitting back down his first three batters. Armstrong came back out in the
second with a three up, three down showing, but Olson’s encore matched that
performance. The third inning saw more of the same as neither pitcher had
allowed a runner still. Finally, MTP tagged Olson with a solo homer by Whit
Merrifield. Olson struck out two more but that home run would sting. He’d
finish the day with a fine box score, going 7 innings, striking out 10, and
allowing just the one run.
Meanwhile, MTP would follow up Armstrong with Wandy Peralta,
Trent Thorton, and Jake Diekman all pitching hitless innings. LV finally got
their first hit of the game in the seventh inning off Jordan Romano but a quick
switch to Phil Maton locked down any further threat. Sensing blood in the water
and clinging to a 1-0 lead, MTP called on Felix Bautista for the two inning
save and he delivered, striking out three and never running into real trouble. Seven
different pitchers combined to allow just two hits, no runs, and 10 strikeouts to
secure another shutout. LV had only been shut out twice during the 81-game regular
season but were blanked twice in the series already.
Final Score – Mount Pleasant 1, Las Vegas 0. Peralta
(Win), Olson (Loss), Bautista (Save)
Game 5, MTP 3-1
With the season on the line, Las Vegas turns back to their MVP.
Ohtani stepped to the mound knowing it could be his last career start for the
Fremonts. Despite the LV’s comfort of Ohtani on the mound, the Train Wreck
wanted to prove Game 1 wasn’t a fluke. Logan Allen squared back up with Ohtani.
Both pitchers faced mild trouble early on, a lead off Semien
double fizzled out and a Guerrero Jr. single dead ended, but Dalton Varsho
caught a juicy Ohtani pitch he drove and sailed over the right field wall,
bringing Suarez home with him for an early 2-0 lead in the second. Allen handled
the LV lineup flipping over, continuing to fluster Jose Ramirez and besting
Ohtani at the plate after a fly ball dropped into an outfielder’s glove. His
offense was doing their part, as Rutschman smashed his second home run of the
series, bumping the lead for MTP to 3-0.
Las Vegas wasn’t done yet. Michael Taylor belted a solo home
run of his own to make it 3-1. Taylor Ward drew a walk in the 7th and Mount
Pleasant had to turn to their stout bullpen to finish out the inning. Ohtani,
for his part, finished out the 7th inning before heading back to the dugout and
DHing the rest of the way.
Still, Las Vegas was on their heels and Mount Pleasant could
taste their second straight World Series appearance. Vegas fought back in the eight
with Triston Casas second triple of the season but set-up man Jordan Romano
induced a routine groundout to end the threat and head to the 9th, passing the
ball over to Felix Bautista for his third save opportunity.
It wasn’t without one final push though. LV trotted out the
heart of their order, starting with Ohtani. He slapped a single into right
field and immediately stole second base. Semien couldn’t move the runner over,
instead weakly popping out. Taylor Ward kept the pressure on, drawing a walk to
bring Grandal up, representing the winning run with just one out. Bautista
reached back and fired a 100 MPH fastball that Grandal tops. The grounder
dribbled to Correa at shortstop, who flicked it to Merrifield, stepped on second
base and flung it to Naylor just in time for the game ending double play!
Final Score – Mount Pleasant 3, Las Vegas 1. Allen (Win),
Ohtani (Loss), Bautista (Save)
Mount Pleasant wins series 4-1!
..................
Other than the 9-run outburst, every single game was a
pitching duel that struggled to see any easy offense. Everything was earned and
came one run at a time. As a team, MTP hit a paltry .207 for the entire series,
mostly getting it done with the longball and a .396 slugging. In comparison,
Las Vegas, who lead in practically every offensive category, had a .143 batting
average, scoring just seven total runs in five games.
Mount Pleasant couldn’t mount much offense, with Josh Naylor
leading the way batting .300 and a home run. Royce Lewis was important at the
start of the series, tallying three hits and a walk, including a HR, in just 7
ABs. Rutschman gets another shoutout for having two HRs and a team-high 4 RBIs.
Mike Trout gets the Least Valuable Player award, batting .150 and striking out
SIXTEEN TIMES in 20 ABs. Truly remarkable.
Series MVP has to be Logan Allen who neutralized LV twice,
pitching 12 innings in two starts and allowing just 4 runs to the high-powered
offense. Without him the bullpen wouldn’t have been as flexible and effective
in the bullpen game. Felix Bautista comes in second, notching three saves,
including a crucial two inning save in a 1-0 victory.
The Train Wreck look forward to their World Series matchup against
Lake Erie. MTP won the regular series matchup 4-2 but the shorten rotations
will certainly favor LE.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
2023 Regular Season Recap!!!
Another fantastic season in the books! We have seen some insanely great performances this year, both from teams and individuals. We also had some high drama down the stretch to determine our playoff teams. Lots to recap here, so here we go...
The Rusty Kuntz Division was by far the best this year. The Division Champs, the Las Vegas Fremonts, had
a season for the ages, racking up 58 wins despite the brutal division
competition. The Fremonts 58 wins have
only been exceeded twice in the 44 or so years of the league: the 2005 Boston Bobcats with 60 wins and the
2002 Pittsburgh Phantoms with 59 wins. Las Vegas excelled in all areas of the
game: The Fremonts led the league in
home runs (129) , runs (442), hits (767), batting average (.272), OBP (.453), slugging
percentage (.829), OPS (1.282), ERA (3.23) and Opponent Batting Average Allowed
(a near Mendoza Line of .202). Shohei
Ohtani, of course, won the Triple Crown and recorded what must be THE best
season in Friendship League history:
.369 average, 36 home runs, and 85 RBIs.
Ohtani set new all-time single-season records for runs (88) and Slugging Percentage (.829) He also dominated on the mound, going 6-2
with a 2.28 ERA. Just an unbelievable
season, absolutely Ruth-ian effort for our 2023 MVP!
Lake Erie and Maine fought ferociously for the Wild Card,
with Lake Erie winning the final showdown with Maine to claim the last playoff
spot. Lake Erie’s one-two punch of
Gerrit Cole and Chris Bassitt combined to go 24-9 for the season! Cole ran away with the voting for the Cy
Young Award. Chris Martin was the best
closer in the league, saving 22 games, putting up a 1.21 ERA< and earning
the coveted Rolaids Relief Pitcher award.
Maine had some power in their bats (122 homers, second best
in the league) but ended up outscoring their opponents for the season by just a
total of just five runs. A 6-1 record in
extra innings kept the Loggers in playoff contention right until the end.
Pittsburgh was the “hard luck” team for the first half of
the season as Aaron was beset by a series of late inning collapses dooming the
Phantoms. They ended up with a 9-19
record in one run games. ☹ However, Aaron
proved a quick study, and the Phantoms did improve greatly as the season went
on. They are tied with Pawtucket for
the most number of bingo balls in the upcoming draft, and should be on their
way towards a quick rebuild and future success.
The Jack Glasscock Division didn’t have the glitzy juggernaut
teams of the other divisions but was the most competitive this season, with
three teams battling for the Division crown and Toronto not that far behind the
pack. Mount Pleasant held off the other
teams and took the Division with 44 wins.
Kevin Gausman led the league in strikeouts with 154. The Train Wreck bullpen was exceptionally
strong, with five relievers posting ERA’s of 3.07 or lower. Key Split for Mount Pleasant? Starting
pitchers ERA was 4.48, relievers 2.94!
Michigan and KC each finished with 40 wins, just under .500
records. Kansas City was middle of the road in just
about every stat, with only Michael Lorenzen jumping out statistically (5-0,
1.15 ERA in 62 innings). Michigan’s Kyle
Bradish knocked Roger Clemens off the top of the Single Season ERA title,
establishing a new record with a 1.53 mark.
Toronto only won 35 games this season, but they are loaded
for bear next season and are pre-season favorites to win it all (thanks to monster
seasons from Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt, etc.)
Wichita took the Oil Can Boyd division with an excellent 49
win campaign. Wichita had a well-balanced team, finish 3rd
in batting average. 2nd in runs scored, 2nd in runs allowed,
and 2nd in team ERA. Luis
Robert would have been MVP if Ohtani didn’t exist. He had a .327 average, 25 homers, and 80
RBIs!
Boston was runner up in the division. Some hard luck may have cost them some wins
as their run differential (runs scored minus runs allowed) of 16 would be more
in line with a better than .500 season.
Montreal had some nice contact hitters (4 batters over .300)
but not much power. It was the starting
rotation that did in the Grizzlies.
Starters had an ERA of 5.58 vs. relievers at 3.29. There is hope on the horizon though, and a
full season of Tarik Skubal will make a BIG difference next year!
Pawtucket was another team doomed by their
pitching staff, with a league high 5.07 ERA.
And that was despite the excellent season recorded by Zack Elfin (10-2,
3.23 ERA). First round pick Esteury Ruiz
led the league with 56 steals, most in the league in 14 seasons! Rickey Henderson has the all-time mark with
76 steals, and Juan Pierre swiped 60 in 2010.
Season Superlatives and “Awards”
Toronto Thunder had the highest run total for a game,
exploding for 21 runs against Michigan
Pittsburgh Phantoms had the most hits in one game, with 22
against Kansas City.
Tyler Glasnow of Boston had the most K’s in a game with 16
against Pawtucket
Sombreros: Boston
sluggers Bo Bichette, Sal Perez, Joey Gallo, and Josh Jung each logged a game
where they struck out five times (the criteria for a “Platinum Sombrero”). Pittsburgh’s Byron Buxton was the only
non-Bobcat to “achieve” the Platinum Sombrero this season. Seven batters had four strikeout games, or “Golden
Sombrero”: Aaron Judge, Corey Seager,
George Springer, Josh Lowe, Justin Turner, Estuary Ruiz, and Isiah
Kiner-Falefa.
Speed Kills:
Pawtucket’’s Estuery Ruiz had SEVEN of the eight games where a player
stole three or more bases! Only Makiei
Garcia of Montreal shared space on the Steals list with Estuery, when he swiped
three bags against, coincidentally, Pawtucket!
Ruiz peaked with five steals against Boston one day.
(Batting) King for a day!
Not sure how they calculate the Batter Game Score, but Kansas City’s
Austin Hays had the single best all-around hitting game this year. Hays went 4 for 4, with 3 homers, 3 runs,
and 6 RBIs.
(Pitching) King for a day!
Not sure how they calculate the Pitcher Game Score, but Michgan Mammoth
Kyle Bradish had the highest one this year.
He blanked Pittsburgh en route to throwing a one-hitter with 0 walks and
9 strikeouts!
The “Hung Out to Dry” award goes to Pittsburgh’s Jose
Berrios, who allowed 17 runs while struggling through 8 innings to preserve his
team’s bullpen arms.
“There Can Only Be One” Highlander Award: Michigan’s Kyle Bradish, Boston’s Aaron Civale,
and Wichita’s Domingo German each threw
one-hitters.
“There Can Only Be Twenty-One” Blackjack Award goes to KC’s Martin Perez,
who allowed 21 hits to Pittsburgh in a league-worst outing.
Tungsten Arm O’Doyle Award for pitching endurance: Pawtucket’s Dean Kremer stepped up for the
Patriots and saved their bullpen by recording 30 outs. No one else recorded more than 27 outs