Friendship League Returns to Craft Breww City!

Holy cow, eight league members showed up to eat, drink, and roll dice at CBC on Wednesday night.  And a future league member was in attendance as well.  (not pictured: Chuck, who showed up later, and Steve W, who was photographer).  

It sure was good to be back together again.  Looking forward to hopefully one more of these get-togethers in NOV or DEC, and then finally, FINALLY having an in-person draft next spring.  

Loggers Break Oh-Fer-Eighteen String Vs. Sandlot in Dramatic Fashion

The Maine Loggers, like most teams, have experienced some futility over the years.  But in the storied history of the Friendship League, we'd never seen anything like this.  Playing the four teams in the Sandlot Division in the first half of the season, the Loggers had gone a combined 0-12 against Boston, Lake Erie, Mount Pleasant, and Kansas City.  As Wednesday evening dawned, the Loggers were intent on breaking this streak.  Then, they lost three in a row to Boston, and three more in a row to Mount Pleasant.  Not only was the season all over for the Loggers, but they had this enormous weight of 0-18 against this division staring them in the face.  Undaunted, Manager Steve Willnus looked Pat Carr in the eye and said "one more game".  Carr agreed, and the game was on.  And sure enough, the Loggers were set up to extend the streak to 19 games when KC scored in the top of the 10th to take a 4-3 lead.  Two quick outs left Steve Willnus searching for the door.  But a walk to Aaron Hicks left a small glimmer of hope, as the disappointing DJ Lemahieu strode to the plate.  Willnus point out for all who would listen that DJ had rolled a 1-6 (HR 1-17, flyout 18-20) at least four times this year and gotten an 18, 19, or 20 every time.  And sure enough, Lemahieu dialed up the 1-6 right on cue.  This time, the fates would have the split die stop on a "12", and Lemahieu trotted around the bases with a walk-off 2-run shot.  The Loggers rejoiced.  The curse was over.   

Friendship League Past and Present - Future?

League Members past and present were on hand to watch the crummy Lions lose their home opener to the Niners.  Best part of the day (as it usually is with any Lions game) was the tailgate!  Old stories about Bob Willnus, Anthony Gose's pitching career, and the fate of Whit Merrifield were all discussed.  Good seeing these guys!!  

P.S. I still think a "Schmidt and Schmidt" ownership team would work well in this league.  They would get the fun of the draft, and only have to play half the games each.  Plus a chance to re-build a winner.  Win-win for both!  

Train Wreck, Mammoth agree to a mid-season trade!

These two have just been traded for each other!

The Carr Collusion has struck a trade.  Mount Pleasant will get Whit Merrifield and Michigan's 4th round pick next year while Michigan gets Nate Lowe and Mount Pleasant's 3rd round pick.  As dictated in the rules, a committee of managers reviewed and signed off on the trade.  

I will be sending out a new league file after today, the final day of the mid-season trading period, and will include any other trades that may get made.  PLEASE install it right away so that the teams are correct and the stats do not get corrupted.  Thank you!

The Sandlot Division Rules (so far!)

 Wanted to share the wackiest standings update I can remember.  Early in the season, EVERY member of The Sandlot Division has a winning percentage over .600.  Somehow, the first place Boston Bobcats are calculated to be three games behind third place Mount Pleasant?!   Shaping up to be a wild season for a powerhouse division!

2020 Friendship League Draft Weekend!

Thanks to you all for a fun and memorable weekend!  Special thanks to Chuck (and his alter ego Mr. Whiskey) for setting up and hosting the meetings, and to Scott for his spreadsheet and DJ wizardry

Please take some time to review the league file and make sure it is OK.  Getting very close to PLAY BALL time!

Preseason Simulation results....

Web Builder

Standings

League Leaders

Team Totals (Primary)

Team Totals (Secondary)

Newspaper Recap

Awards Voting

Record Book

Draft Eve Trades

 BOS sends their #1 to WIC for Salvador Perez

MAI sends #1 for 2020 season and #1 for 2021 season to MTL for DJ Lemahieu and #11 2021

Trade!

Las Vegas – Kyle Seager has been dealt to Mount Pleasant, in exchange for MP’s third round pick in the upcoming draft. Fremont general manager Peter Brand said in this afternoon’s press conference, “We salute Kyle and his nine years of service to the Fremont club and the greater Las Vegas community,”

Seager, the ‘Monts fifth round pick in the 2011 draft, hit 82 HR 279 RBI .238/.302/.404 in his career. The MVP of Vegas’ first winning playoff series, he was awarded with gold gloves in 2014 and 2017. Seager leaves for mid-Michigan atop the all-time Fremont list in most categories.

#1 All-time; Games – 651, At Bats – 2019, Hits – 497, Runs – 268, Walks – 192, Pinch Hits – 17
#2 All-time; Doubles – 89, Home Runs – 82, RBI – 279

Seager adds a needed left handed bat to an already potent Trainwreck line-up and will join Carlos Correa to form the strongest left-side infield defense in the league.

 MEN CORRECTION

Oops.  Cut Diaz, A; Protect Abreu, J

Boston Bobcats Protection List

Darvish's

MINNESOTA MEN PROTECTED

 

WICHITA BANDITS

 

MASK UP !!!

Protected

Anthony Bass

Matt Boyd

Dylan Cease

Danny Duffy

Ian Kennedy

Yusei Kikuchi

Jose Leclerc(NC)

Jose Suarez(NC)

Tim Anderson

Matt Chapman

JP Crawford

CJ Cron

David Fletcher

Alex Gordon

Danny Jansen

Tyler Naquin

Salvador Perez

Tyler Wade

Not Protected

Mike Clevinger (NL) 

Colin Poche (NC)

Tim Hill (NC)

Trevor Cahill(NC)

Grayson Greiner

Billy Hamilton(NC)

Dan Vogelbach (NC)

Greg Allen

Guillermo Heredia(NC)

Darvish Rule

Yordan Alvarez (NC)

Domingo German(NC)

This team looks like SHIT smells like SHIT and is SHIT !!!!!!!!  - Salvador Perez is available as he has asked for a trade.

- Bandit Management 

Loggers 2021 Protection List

 

   Loggers Announce 2021 Protection List

2021 Protections

Mitch "Find me some" More Land

Christian "Bale" Vasquez
J.D. "Salinger" Martinez
Adalberto "Not my Brother or Dad Raul" Mondesi
A-Aron Hicks "From French Lick"

Luke "I am your father" Voit

Gio "Ursula The Sea Witch" Urshela

"Take Him To the Wood" Shed Long

Tyler "Toenail" Clippard "Ship"

Tyler Glasnow "Slipper"

Tyler "We Need More Tyler's on this team" Duffey

Diego "Rivera Mural" Castillo

Martin "Scorsese" Perez

Jose "Squidward" Urquidy

Buck "Rogers" Farmer "In The Dell"

Michael "Pinata" Pineda

Yusmeiro "Taco Bell" Petit

Felix "The Cat" Pena

DARVISH/NL Protected:

Sonny, Sonny, Sonny Gray

Carlos "Rodan - CAW!" Rodon

Man up and vanished, like a fart in the wind:

Avisail "Well Hello, Mrs. Cabrera" Garcia

Danny "Boy" Santana

Luis "I just threw up in my mouth a little bit" Rengifo

Jake "From 16 Candles - Ya Married" Junis

Meibrys "Validvictorian" Viloria

Josh "Ostrich" Osich

We bid adieu to our fourth Tyler.....Tyler Skaggs.  Skaggs always outperformed his card (going 6-0 in his last year for Maine), and had a great Friendship League career in Toronto and Maine.  He now becomes the answer to the trivia question: Which player's death resulted in the first use of the "Fred Rule" in league history -- allowing Maine an extra 3rd round pick?   The Loggers will look to pick up the best available "Tyler" with this pick, in an attempt to get back to the minimum "four Tylers" required by Maine law.    

We were going to retire it, but just can't......perhaps the best Maine nickname of all.  (Avisail Garcia in close second).  

Ryan "15 pieces of Flair" Flaherty

Stan, Chotchkie's Manager: "JoAnna....We need to talk about your flair".

MAINE LOGGERS, 1907 Team Photo

Thunder change

We will keep Josh James instead of Noe Ramirez. Should be set now.

Mount Pleasant Keepers

 

Hitters:

Carlos Correa - SS

Clint Frazier - OF

Niko Goodrum - 2B

Vlad Guerrero Jr. - 1B

Nomar Mazara - OF

Stephen Piscotty - OF

Albert Pujols - 1B

Eddie Rossario - OF

Pedro Severino - C

Mike Trout - CF

Pitchers: 

Jaime Barria

Zach Britton

Randy Dobnak

Lucas Giolito

Brad Keller

Justus Sheffield 

Blake Snell

Joakim Soria

Yu Darvish:

DROPPING - MICHAEL PEREZ - C

1. Myles Straw - CF

2. Hansel Robles - RHP

Cuts:

Welington Castillo - n/c

Thomas Pannone - n/c

Rick Porcello - n/c

Yolmer Sanchez - n/c

Jordan Zimmermann - n/c

Adam Ottavino - sucks

Matt Shoemaker - stinks

Rougned Odor - blows

 

keep:
craig biggio
jackie bradley jr
mark canha
leury garcia
robbie grossman
nicky lopez
shohei ohtani
jose ramirez
kyle seager
marcus semien
kevan smith

ty buttrey
zack greinke
andrew heaney

jose jimenez

ryan pressly

taylor rogers
masahrio tanaka

cut:

dunstin garneau
josh phegley n/c
brandon brennan n/c
jesse chavez n/c
tommy kahnle n/c
mike leake n/c
trent thornton n/c
gabriel yona n/c

darvish:
trevor bauer
trey mancini

Lake Erie Commodores Protected List

M. Tauchman, OF/L. Gurriel, LF/R. Grichuk, CF/T. Hernandez, RF,CF/A. Santander, RF,LF

R. Nunez, 1B,3B/N. Solak, 2B,LF/R. Guzman, 1B/M. Maldonado, C/W. Adames, SS

T. LaStella, 2B,3B

G. Cole, St/C. Bassett, St/J. Means, St/D. Norris, Rel/J. Wendelken, Rel/J. Diekman, Rel

L. Hendricks, Rel

YU DARVISH PLAYERS

J. Verlander/J. Altuve

CUT PLAYERS

D. DeShields, M. Cabrera, J. Lucroy, J. Marisnick, S Gaviglio, S. Greene, C. McHugh, O. Drake

 

 2020 Friendship Champions 

Pittsburgh Protected Players

Pitchers(1-6)

Shane  Bieber

Taijuan Walker

Jose Berrios

Charlie Morton

James Paxton

Brad Hand

Hitters(7-18)

Rafael Devers

Eloy Jimemez

Kyle Tucker

Byron Buxton

Miguel Sano

Luis Arraez

Kyle Lewis

Joey Gallo

Brandon Lowe

Elvis Andrus

Hanser Alberto

Austin Nola

YU Darvish(19-20)

Andrew Benintendi

Tom Murphy

Cuts

CC Sabathia n/c

Brandon Workman (only 7 Ip)

Reese McGuire

Kole Calhoun(N/C

Marcus Walden

Josh Taylor(only (7 Ip)

Ken Giles(only 3Ip

Will Harris(N/C)

Darwinzon Hernandez(only 8 Ip)

Michigan's Protected players for the upcoming season...

Jalen Beeks

Miguel Castro

Jake Cave

Hunter Dozier

Nathan Eovaldi

Mitch Garver

Kevin Kiermaier

Francisco Lindor

Oscar Mercado

Whit Merrifield

Tommy Milone

Mike Minor

Roberto Perez

Adam Plutko

Justin Upton

Framber Valdez

Jacob Waguespack

Joey Wendle

Yu Darvish players are Michael Fulmer (staying on Yu Darvish list) and Mitch Haniger

Cuts are...

Chris Devinski

Nick Goody

Zack Littell

Ivan Nova

Aaron Sanchez

Domingo Santana

Dee Strange-Gordon

Hunter Wood

Willans Astudillo

Kansas City Butchers protected list

 

The Butchers are pleased to announce the following players have made the team for the 2020 season and earned the right to wear the red-and-black of the KC Butchers...

Xander Bogaerts

Alex Bregman

Carlos Carrasco

Jason Castro

Luis Cessa

Khris Davis

Adam Engel

Yuli Gurriel

J.A. Happ

Austin Hays

Jordan Luplow

Evan Marshall

Lance McCullers (back from Yu Darvish)

Yoan Moncada

Zach Plesac

Victor Reyes

George Springer

Giancarlo Stanton

Two Yu Darvish players are Corey Kluber and Eduardo Rodriguez

The following players are cut, just like Homer Simpson was axed by the Germans...

Brett Anderson

Robinson Chirinos

Mike Ford

Jace Fry

Emilio Pagan

David Price

Hector Rondon

Ryne Stanek

Jonathan Villar

Get your all-new Kansas
City Butcher BBQ spices
in our team store!

2ND Update to Thunder protection list

Keeping Noe Ramirez and dropping Alvarado.

Update to Thunder Protection List

We will drop Chirinos and add Alvarado. Current drops are Drury,B 3B Chirinos,Y SP James,J SP/RP Ramirez,N RP Kittredge,A SP/RP Adams,A NC Hicks,J NC Jurado,A NC Smoak,J NC

Final Playoff Stats!!!

 

WebBuilder View

Standings

League Leaders

Grand Totals

Line Scores

Newspaper Style Recap

Awards Voting

Record Book

Maine Team Stats

Maine Primary Stats

Maine Line Scores

Minnesota Team Stats

Minnesota Primary Stats

Minnnesota Line Scores

Las Vegas Team Stats

Las Vegas Primary Stats

Las Vegas Line Scores

Pittsburgh Team Stats

Pittsburgh Primary Stats

Pittsburgh Line Scores

Montreal Protection List, (more like who's not hitting over .250 and pitching over 6.50 ERA in 2020)

                                     Howdy y'all, (at least thats what we have to say down here)

I have been waiting to write a season eulogy for us poor, battered Grizzlies, we may need to adopt the Lions' new head football Coach, Dan Campbell's philosophy of taking out kneecaps as we slide into 2nd base. *Sigh* This season was beyond disappointing, no in person games played, all while cooped up in my apartment due to the pandemic. 

As I did my research on who to keep, (strong word choice here) the Grizzlies were absolutely beyond abysmal in 2020, as most of my players either have no card, or had under 5 games played. 

Anyways, as GM of the absolutely putrid Montreal Franchise, these are the players who are being kept until the draft:

Batters:

1.) DJ "I want more money" Lemathieu - 2B/3B, 2.) Carlos "I'm not THAT Carlos Santana" Santana - 1B/DH, 3.) Jacoby "Injury Prone" Jones - CF, 4.) Michael "I look like I'm 30" Chavis - 3B/1B, 5.) Michael "I'm glad to be back in Houston" Brantley - LF, 6.) Gary "Can't hit" Sanchez - Catcher, 7.) Austin ("Not Andrew" Romine - Catcher  8.) Gleyber "I can only hit HR's against Baltimore" Torres - SS/2B, 9.)  Jordan "Almost got a gold Glove" Schoop - 2B 10.) Harold "I look like a Frog" Castro - UTL, 11.) Josh Reddick 12) Mallex Smith

Pitchers: 

13.) Scot "Look at me" Barlow, 14. Alex "Take me home country roads" Colome - RP, 15.) Mike "Can't stop the Fire" Fiers, SP, 16.) Cam "Can't find the strike-zone" Bedrosian. 17) Kyle Gibson   18) Nick Wittgren  

Non-Carded Players:

1.) Wade Miley - NL, 2.) Dawel Lugo, 3.) Brandon Dixon, 4.) Aaron Brooks, 5.) Adrian Sampson.

Cut Players:

 1.) Ryan Butcher 2) Asher Wojciehowski 3) Franklin Barreto (no card)

Yu Darvish:

1.) Jordan Montgomery

2.)  Roberto Osuna

There you have it, thats the list, and also The Montreal Grizzles are praying for the number one draft pick. But OPEN to possibilities of trades. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Thunder Protection List

Definitely a list that could have some changes. Protected Polanco, J SS Judge, A RF Kepler, M RF Cruz, N DH Gardner, B LF Gonzalez, M 3B Andujar, M 3B Calhoun, W LF Zunino, M C Manaea, S SP Bundy, D SP Canning, G SP Green, C RP Loaisiga, J SP/RP Anderson, N RP Chirnos, Y NC Lopez, R SP Pinder, C 2B Sale, C Yu Darvish #1 McKay, B Yu Darvish #2

Fremonts Take Divisional Series in Seven

 

Game 1

Men 11 Fremonts nil

Game one wasn’t in doubt for long as the Men put up a 7 run third off Trevor Bauer. Jake Odorizzi led the Men pitchers yielding five baserunners over 7 scoreless innings. Five Men had multiple hit games with Eric Sogard’s 4 RBI and Austin Meadows’ three-run homer leading the barrage.

Game 2

Fremonts 10 Men 4

The flood gates opened in the other direction with the ‘Mont getting runners across four of the first five innings in game two -- staking starter Trent Thornton to a 8-3 lead. Kyle Seager hit two home runs, driving in 5 overall. Ryan Yarbrough gave up nine runs and 16 hits in just 6 2/3 innings.

Game 3

Men 4 Fremonts 2

After an off day the series moved to Minnesota. The Men picked off single runs in the third and fourth off ‘Mont starter Zack Greinke and Shin-Soo Choo drove in two with a one-out single in the seventh to pull the Men over the line and give them a 2-1 series lead. Spencer Turnbull was solid for the Men putting in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

Game 4

Fremonts 7 Men 4 (18 innings)

Game four is always pivotal and this was no exception. The Men entered the top of the ninth up 4-2, three outs away from a commanding 3-1 series lead. Aroldis Chapman came in to close the deal and stuck out the first ‘Mont hitter. Trey Mancini doubled and pinch hitter Kyle Seager walked to put the tying run on first. Robbie Grossman stuck out to leave the heroics up to Nicky Lopez, the 141th of 144 players taken in this year’s draft. Lopez finished the season with a .317 slugging percentage but took Chapman to the gap scoring Mancini and Seager and tying the score at four. The Men went quietly in the ninth taking the game to extra innings.

There were various tense moments, but for the most part a pitcher’s duel broke out among the bullpens over the next eight frames. And then came Jorge Lopez for the Men. Zoom camera footage shows the Men owner cringing the moment Trevor May ran out of gas with two outs and a man on first in the top of the 18^th – leaving him no choice but to bring in Lopez, who ended the season with a 7.79 ERA. On queue Mark Canha singled to bring home Dustin Garneau, then the dagger came in the form of a two run Jose Ramirez home run. Ty Buttrey struck out the side in the 18^th to earn the win and put the series back level at two apiece.

Game 5

Men 9 Fremonts 5

The wheels came off again for Trevor Bauer as the Men put up four in the first and never really looked back. The ‘Monts had a chance to tie the game in the sixth, but Nicky Lopez was thrown out at home to end the inning. The Men put up three in the bottom of the frame with an Aledmys Diaz double and a Brian Goodwin single to put the game out of reach and give Jake Odorizzi his second win of the series. The two teams returned to Las Vegas with Minnesota holding a 3-2 series lead.

 Game 6

Fremonts 7 Men 4

With their back against the wall and the score 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cavan Biggio walked and Kevan Smith singled to put two men on. Dustin Garneau came to the plate. Men catcher Omar Narvaez made probably the first two-base catcher error in league playoff history, scoring Biggio and Smith to tie the ballgame. Kyle Seager followed with his third home run of the series giving the ‘Monts a lead they would not relinquish as the ‘Mont pen threw 4 innings of one hit ball to seal the deal.

Game 7

Fremonts 4 Men 0

The fifth to last player taken in the 2017 draft, Mike Leake, took to the hill to start game seven for the ‘Monts versus Spencer Turnbull. Las Vegas started quickly with two runs in the first via a Biggio walk, Ramirez triple and Marcus Semien single. And it was smooth sailing from there as Leake and three ‘Mont relivers scattered nine hits.

There were hero’s everywhere for the Fremonts in the series. Nicky Lopez hit .333 in addition to his game four double. Jose Ramirez hit safely in six games with a .344 average. Tommy Kahnle pitched six scoreless innings out of the pen, including three in game four’s extra frames. Mike Leake had a 1.64 ERA in two starts, winning game seven.

But it was Fremont legend Kyle Seager – the Fremont all-time leader in Games, At Bats, Hits, Runs, and Walks -- who came through with a .462/.538/1.308 slash, 3 HRs, 9 RBI and is a fitting divisional series MVP.

 

2019 Regular Season Wrap-up!

 Thanks to all for getting in their games and finishing the season on time!  Had some close races and some great action as the season wound down.   Congratulations to our three division winners (Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota) and wild-card winner (Maine)!

The Black Plague division was ruled practically from start to finish by the mighty Las Vegas Fremonts.  Chuck ran away from the competition with his balanced power attack (8 batters with double-digit home run totals) and strong starting rotation.  It does hurt to see Fremont SS Marcus Semien take the MVP award while I am left with the ghost of Jake Marisnick  :-)   The defending champion Michigan Mammoth knew they didn't have the horses to win it this year, so they are not too upset about their 2nd place finish.   Rookie 3B Hunter Dozier had an all-star season, and Mitch Garver won the HR Crown with a crazy 27 homers in just 184 at bats!  Lake Erie tied Michigan for second, with stalwarts Jose Altuve (21 HRs) and Miguel Cabrera (,329 average) pacing the offense.  Toronto was just one game behind, with the ageless Nelson Cruz bashing all year (.333, 25 HRs, and 65 RBIs).

The Pittsburgh Phantoms firmly established themselves as one of the all-time great Friendship League with an amazing 58-23 record to run away with the Zika Division title, just two wins shy of the all-time record (60 wins by 2005 Boston).  This is even more impressive when factoring in how difficult this division was.  Monster stats abound with this team.  Just a quick look at Pitt's primary stats show three players batting over .400 (in limited at bats, I must add).  Joey Gallo, who just a short while ago seemed like he may be a modern-day Rob Deer, hit .328 with 21 homers.   Rookie Eloy Jimenez cranked 25 homers.  Brandon Workman dominated out of the bulpen, garnering 18 saves with a 0.86 ERA.  Ken Giles vultured 7 wins (against just 1 loss).  Jose Berrios (10-2, 3.23) and Shane Bieber (11-4, 4.05) were a potent one-two combo.  The real drama in this division, though, came from the Battle of the Willni, as Maine and Boston were deadlocked for the wild-card bid all season.   Steve's great writeup on the final game is a must read.  Maine's Tyler Skaggs went 6-0, with a 2.06 ERA all season.  Boston had an outstanding season from Yandy Diaz (.324, 10 HRs) and Marco Gonzales (10 wins).  Mike Walter and his Montreal Grizzlies set a new league record for competing all 81 games before the leaves changed, but not much else went right as they were in this brutal division.  Montreal was a very respectable 22-26 against non-division opponents.  1st Rounder D.J. Lemahieu established himself as a true superstar, hitting .317 with 20 HRs and earning a Gold Glove to boot.  

The HIV Division was an exercise in mediocrity almost all season as everyone was just around or way below the .500 mark all season.  However, Scott's Minnesota Men surged over the final weekend to grab the title and earn their spot in the playoffs.  The Men slugged 142 HR's with Jose Abreu and Austin Meadows combining for 41 of them.  Brad Peacock (do peacocks caw?  I guess.  CAW! CAW!) went 4-0 out of the bullpen.  Kansas City hit the most homers in the league (145) but the generous KC staff gave back 133 of them.  Mount Pleasant had a Jekyll and Hyde season, sitting pretty in first place at mid-season only to get plastered by division opponents and dropping to the bottom of the division.  Mike Trout was uncharacteristically quiet, hitting just .245 witth 20 home runs (three of those in the final game of the year - the baseball equivalent of Stat Padford!)  Wichita was tied with Mount Pleasant in the basement of the division.   Anthony "Sea" Bass was just one out shy of making the All-Time Leaderboard for lowest ERA by a reliever.  

The Strat Gods have not been kind to the Butchers, 
after losing the play-in game to Vegas last year and
getting edged by Minnesota this year

Toronto Thunder setting what I can only assume is an all-time league record with just ONE stolen base all season!!!  Brett Gardner was the only player defying Manager Steve Tufte's season-long edict against stealing.  They surely set a new mark by never getting caught stealing all season long  :-)

Wichita's Tim Anderson won the Batting Title (.339), Michigan's Mitch Garver led all in home runs with 27, and Pittsburgh's Eloy Jimenez won the RBI total with 69.  Montreal's Mallex Smith led the league in steals with 30 (29 more than the entire Toronto team :-) )Pittsburgh starter Shane Bieber led the league with 11 wins, and teammate Jose Berrios won the ERA Crown with 3.22.  Lake Erie's Gerrit Cole led everyone with 195 K's.  Las Vegas SS Marcus Semien was MVP, and Pittsburgh's Shane Bieber won the Cy Young.  Maine's Tyler Duffey won the Rolaids Relief Pitcher award, and Pittsburgh skipper Dave Steines won the Manager of the Year award.  

Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, Francisco Lindor, Gary Sanchez, Mitch Haniger, and Joey Gallo all had three home-run games.  Jackie Bradley Jr.(LAS),  Rafael Laureano (BOS), and Mitch Haniger (MIC) all had seven RBI games.  Toronto's Sean Manaea threw the only no-hitter this season. 

Gerrit Cole's 195 K's tie him for third all-time! For more proof of how prevalent the whiff has become, three of the all-time most K's by a pitching staff happened this season!

All league history links have been updated, as have the Team Yearbooks and Encyclopedia.  Happy clicking, hope that gets you all through to the next season!

Vegas baby, Vegas!

 

Las Vegas - The Las Vegas Fremonts celebrated their first division championship tonight after finishing the final series of the 2019 season. While no major individual 'Mont records were broken, the 2019 edition set team records for wins (47), runs (483), home runs (127), walks (326).

Update: Fremont SS Marcus Semien was named the 2019 Friendship League MVP. Semien finished the season with 13 HRs 51 RBI, .284/.380/.491. He accepted the award saying, "Congratulations to Francisco Lindor on a great season and and probably the closest rate for this reward -- good luck in the National League next season. I share this award with my teammates and the city of Las Vegas." Fremont Director of Analytics Russel Johnson said, "While Marcus' counting stats were not league leading, he earned a 3.8 WAR, good for fourth best in the league and best among players on playoff teams." Semien famously came to the Fremonts via a mid-season trade with Kansas City that was completed on a cocktail napkin. 

MEN PREVAIL IN HIV - ON TO THE THE PLAYOFFS!

Like their owner Scott Mallon in the mid to late 1990's, the Minnesota Men proved HIV was no match for them.  Bring on the plague from Las Vegas!

Game 81 Thriller for Wild Card

It came down to the final four games of the year.  Maine was sitting at 43-34, while Boston was at 42-35, entering the final series in Maine.  Winner to the playoffs as the wild card; loser was looking at a long winter.  These two combatants were very familiar with each other, having faced off in last year's playoffs (with Maine advancing to the World Series, where they would lose to Michigan).    

Maine won the first game handily, 8-3, to move to one game away from playoffs.  It would not be an easy journey though.  Boston won game two, 18-2 and game three 15-0 -- a 33-2 onslaught that brought both teams to the edge of elimination going to Game 81!

Game 81 was a nail-biter, as it should have been.  FIVE players got injured in the game, including TWO Maine pitchers (damn 6-12 roll with the DH!).  Both benches and bullpens were stretched to the limit.  Game was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 7th.  Maine got two men aboard and up stepped Adalberto Mondesi.  One of the most controversial picks in draft history.  Most said Maine "reached" with the 11th pick of the first round four years back, including both the Boston and Pittsburgh general managers.  But reach for the stars is what Mondesi did, lacing a 2-run triple into the gap.  Another hit knocked him in, and Cy Young candidate Tyler Duffey closed it out with two shutout innings, and the Loggers were alive and well, with a 5-2 win, which brought 41,000 masked Logger fans streaming onto the field to celebrate.  

This now makes two years in a row that Maine has ended the Bobcats season -- both times, against Bobcat starter Lance Lynn.  The Phantoms are next on the Adalberto "hit list".  

Down Goes Dass

 

 Pittsburgh Phantoms and Wichita Bandits

1st trade was made Sunday at4:25pm

Pittsburgh  will receives Will Harris from Wichita.

Wichita will get Jose Suarez from Pittbsburgh

2nd trade was made Sunday at7:58pm

Pittsburgh  will receive Kole Calhoun and Wichita 12 round pick

Wichita will Guillermo Heredia and Pittbsburgh 5th round pick

Trade will be reviewed by a Commissioner group (Tufte, Pat, and Dave) to ensure that both teams make the minimums needed.  If one of the people on the committee is involved in the trade then Steve W. will take that persons     

 We now wait for aproval

 

The Pittsburgh General Manager has run the numbers and both meet minimums needed 

Adjustments for dealing with the 60 game season

We had the finest minds in the country break out their slide rules and calculate the necessary adjustments for dealing with the upcoming real-life MLB season.  Here is the list of changes for upcoming season(s)...

-Play 81 game season next season as normal 

-Allow TWO Yu Darvish players next year (calendar year 2021)  The players listed as Yu Darvish players are not just restricted to injured or traded players, they can also include carded players that a manager may elect to not use.

-Batters will get 180% of their at bats in real life (as opposed to the 60% we normally do)

-Pitchers will get 200% of their at bats in real life (as opposed to the 60% we normally do)

-We will protect 18 players in calendar year 2021, 17 players in calendar year 2022, and go back to our normal 16 in calendar year 2023

-Minimum at bats to be eligible to be drafted next year are 30 (as opposed to the normal 60) and 12 innings pitched (as opposed to the normal 25)

-For playoffs, players will be limited to 30% of their at-bats or innings for a series (as opposed to our normal 10%)

-Rosters for next year's draft will need 180 real-life at bats for each position and 375 innings pitched in real life (as opposed to our normal 540 ABs and 1250 IP)

-if MLB can't get many games in and wraps up too early for Strat-O-Matic cards to be made, we will do "The All-time Best Friendship League Teams" next year instead,  If we get a full season, we will do the All-time Best Friendship League Teams as a winter autoplay league.

-Everything is just for next year only, except for the gradual change in protected players (18 next year, 17 in 2022).  

MEN OPENING DAY

Out of an abundance of caution, Men Owner/GM/Manager did not want to put his computer players at risk.  Today, they decided it is OK even though COVID is worse than ever.  Play ball!!!

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