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
Thanks for the entertaining look back at the season, Pat!
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