Friendship League at the 20 game deadline!

The first deadline has come and gone now, so it is probably a good time to take an early look at the races in each division and highlight some great performances so far.

Las Vegas has leapt to the top of the Black Plague division with a flurry of games in June.  Fremont ace Trevor Bauer is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA.  Vegas has the best team batting average so far, a healthy .298 with 37 homers in 22 games.     Defending champ Michigan is clinging to a .500 record 34 games into the season, just poised for a run at the top OR a plunge to the bottom .  -)   Michigan's Mike Minor has been major so far, 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA, enough to be in early Cy Young discussions.  Lake Erie is a little behind Michigan, but is enjoying a resurgence from Miguel Cabrera (hitting .329).  Toronto is off to a slow start but the ageless Nelson Cruz (308 with 6 HRs), Jorge Polanco (.321, 4 HRs), and Max Kepler (.313, 5 HRs) make up a pretty formidable offense.  

In the Zika Division, Pittsburgh has exploded out of the gate with a league best 27-12 record.  The Phantoms offense has been led by Joey Gallo  (.344, 14 HRs) and rookie sensation Eloy Jimenez (.321, 12 HRs).  Charlie Morton and Jose Berrios are both 6-1, aided by a Phantom offense that has slugged 68 home runs in their 39 games!   The Willni are in hot pursuit of Pittsburgh though, as Boston and Maine are both 6 games back.  Boston has a team ERA of 5.58, a team batting average of .235, and have been outscored 119 to 102 yet are still 12-9.  THAT'S why Andy is Manager of the Year, every year!!!   Maine has by far the best team ERA in the league (3.40).  Jeff Junis is undefeated, 5-0 despite an ERA of 4.22 dragging down the rest of the Logger pitching staff.  Montreal, placed in a brutal division, is having a rough season but there are some bright spots.   DJ Lemahieu, in addition to leading the league in vowels in a last name,  is playing at an MVP level (.295, 16 HRs, Gold Glove defense).  Veterans Michael Brantley (.286 11 HRs) and Carlos Santana  (.285, 6 HRs) have provided steady bats.  The pitching staff for the Griz, though, has been a train wreck (and not the Mount Pleasant kind!).  Even without Jordan  Zimmerman to kick around, Montreal's team ERA is an ugly 5.83,and relievers Nick Wittgren (6.55), Cam Bedrosian (7.40), and Ryan Buchter (8.84) have made every late inning situation a nightmare.  Silver lining for Montreal, besides maybe being able to draft Casey Mize or Spencer Torkleson in the future, is that they are 18-24 outside their own division.  Not too bad.  Unfortunate division placement is their biggest problem this year.  Hang in there, Michael!

The Montreal Grizzlies record against
their division foes is a combined 1-14.  Ouch!

The HIV division is so far a Carr Collusion battle, with PJ's Mount Pleasant squad  a couple games ahead of my Butchers.  The Train Wreck's Eddie Rosario (.308, 8 HRs) has so far outshone bigger stars Mike Trout (.293, 7 HRs, 14 RBIs) and Carlos Correa (.317, 3 HRs).  Kansas City has the offense (66 HRs in 31 games, 6.06 runs a game) but the pitching has been dreadful (4.79 ERA).  The result, not surprisingly is a team just above .500.   We win the slugfests but lose the close ones (3-7 in one run games).  Wichita is 5th in batting average (.264) and 5th in team ERA (4.76). so do expect the Bandits to make some noise yet this season. Bandit Tim Anderson is leading the league with a.392 batting average!!!  Minnesota, much like Bill Murray early in his Army career in the movie Stripes, is "pacing myself, sir".  We hope Scott's schedule frees up a little, looking forward to some games at CBC and maybe some bubble hockey down the road this year!

Here are some highlights (and lowlights) of the season so far..

-Mount Pleasant and Maine engaged in a 17 inning battle, ultimately won 2-1 by the Train Wreck

-Mt. P's Mike Trout walked 5 times by the Loggers in a 15 inning game (jeez, pack a lunch if you ever go to a Train Wreck/Logger game!)

-Maine has the most runs scored in one game so far,with 19 against Pittsburgh

-Maine's Gio Urshela and Mount Pleasant's Nomar Mazara each had 5 hit games

-Wichita's Alex Gordon was 0 for 6 and struck out 6 times in one game against Pittsburgh

-Maine's J.D. Martinez and Michigan's Mitch Garver have the only three homer games so far

-J.D. Martinez, Michigan's Mitch Garver, and Wichita's Greg Allen each racked up 6 hits in a game

-Michigan's Mike Minor has the least hits allowed in a game so far, spinning a 4 hitter against Toronto

-Montreal starter Mike Montgomery leads for the Tide Detergent "Hung Out To Dry" award, giving up 19 hits in 6 1/3 innings against Pittsburgh

-Tyler Thornton off Las Vegas, trying to win that coveted Hung Out To Dry award, gave up 6 dingers in 4 2/3 innings against Michigan

-Pittsburgh's James Paxton has most strikeouts in a game, with 15