NABA Wrap-up
Champions
The Warwick Reds finished the regular season 3 games ahead, and played the inaugural NABA Cup against the runner-up Evansville Peacemakers. The Reds won the best of 3 series 2-0, a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the 9th doing the trick in Game 2, as well as being the 1st scoring act of the game.
Awards
North Cascades Award & Yellowstone Award
36 y/o Francisco Cortez had the complexion of a corpse, but he was still healthy as an ox. He’d played in the BL in its 1st season, 2041, before heading to the AUNZBL where he played from 2042-2046, for Christchurch, Central Coast, Whangarei, Perth and back to Central Coast. He then moved back to the BL, from 2047-2049, before another stint in the AUNZBL, this time for Melbourne, for the 2050 and 2051 seasons. He then signed with the Memphis Academics in the NABA, playing all 80 games of the 2053 season, going .305/.411/.529, with 17HR. He led the league in OBP, OPS, wOBA (.404), HR, RBI (53), runs (61), and total bases (163). His season was deemed good enough to not just win the NABA rookie award, but also its slugger award.
Yosemite Award
35 y/o Bob Hesketh was in his 4th season for the Sioux City Rampage, having played from 2042-2047 in the AUNZBL and 2048-2049 in the BL. He was an incredible 11-1 in 2053, with an ERA of 2.47, an FIP of 2.91, and a WHIP of 0.92, on his way to winning the Yosemite Award.
Prospect Watch
20 y/o Bill Parrish was Sioux City’s #1 draft pick in 2053. He remained on their reserve roster all season, but scouts had him pegged as a guy who would blow batters away once he matured. He threw a fastball and a curveball and would likely be a starter in the NABA, but in a year or two an AUNZBL bullpen might look at him as a possible setup guy.
