2053/2054 Season - November
Notable Performances
3 Nov: Rick Clohessy, best known for having served an 80-game suspension in the 2050 season for failing a drug test, would be a free agent at season’s end. While he’d started the season poorly, the week he’d just had might drive up his price some. He went .524/.524/.905, with 2HRs, on his way to PotW.
3 Nov: Aguirre was 1-4 in Canberra’s 3-2 win over Auckland. That hit, a single in the 2nd, was career hit number #2000 for the big man. At only 29 y/o there was plenty of time, most analysts felt, for him to chase down both Mildren’s hit and HR records. He needed 13 more HR to reach 400.
4 Nov: Martin Boston went 5-5, including a triple, as Canberra cantered to a 10-1 victory over Auckland.
7 Nov: Hobart got beat up 10-2 by Cairns, marking their 10th straight loss. They were yet to win a game in November yet. The next night they beat the Crocs 3-1.
10 Nov: Marcos Lopez snared another PotW, this time on the back of a .500/.514/.813 effort. He hit 4 doubles and 2HR in his 16-32.
14 Nov: Wei-liang Chang whitewashed the Metros, allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 6. The Roos bobbed to a 4-0 victory.
15 Nov: Marcos Lopez jagged his BA back above .400 thanks to his 2nd 5-hit game of the season. He was 5-5 as Wellington dismantled the Aces 11-1. His hits included a HR, and he ended the night hitting .404 for the season, well ahead of all competitors.
16 Nov: Ryan Bell went blammo against the Cavalry today, slugging 3HRs to help Christchurch get up 9-6. He drove in 4 of those 9 runs in a 3-4 night.
17 Nov: Beau Snell went .448/.467/.724 over the last 7 days to grab PotW. His 13 hits included 4 doubles and 2 triples.
18 Nov: Bob Bowden had a great night for Wellington against the Aces, going 5-5, including a double and a HR, but was unable to inspire his team to victory. The Aces scraped past the Fury 4-3 in 12 innings.
21 Nov: Young Eddie Rayner had a great night, allowing just 5 hits and 0 walks, fanning 4, to help Canberra keep the Prospects scoreless to the tune of 4-0.
24 Nov: Marshall Tipping won PotW with a .423/.464/.731 effort, including 2HR.
25 Nov: Jesus Hernandez struck out 6, allowed 6 hits and walked 1 on his way to a shutout victory over Melbourne. Darwin won 7-0.
Notable Injuries
7 Nov: A torn thumb ligament would keep Gordon Appleby (.306/.345/.485, 4HR) out of Brisbane’s lineup for up to a month.
7 Nov: On the same day, Bandits management learned that SS Yok-sing Guao (.299/.372/.636, 11HR) would be out a similar amount of time with an oblique strain.
7 Nov: Lindsay Colson (.273/.369/.508, 7HR) had a fractured hand and would be on the DL at least 5 weeks.
11 Nov: Blair Toohey (.269/.380/.336, 1HR) faced a month on the DL with a hamstring strain.
13 Nov: Hot Cowboys SP Bernie Phillips (3-3, 2.93 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) would need a month to recuperate a strained shoulder. At the time of his injury he led the league in FIP and strikeouts (58).
17 Nov: More bad news for the Cowboys’ rotation. Karl Lang (4-4, 4.06 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) was gone for the season with a torn flexor tendon. He was likely to miss some of next season, too.
18 Nov: Darwin would be without Norman Lawless (.348/.391/.402, 1HR) for 5-6 weeks while he tended to a fractured finger.
20 Nov: Rob Lane (.319/.385/.588, 9HR) was gone for the season with a broken elbow.
21 Nov: Brisbane’s new everyday 1B, Lance Fookes (.253/.292/.513, 11HR), was looking at a month off with a hip strain.
21 Nov: The Sluggers would be without utility IF Dan Miners (.315/.333/.412, 3HR) for 5 weeks. He’d strained his hammy.
21 Nov: November was turning into an injury-fest. Esteban Madrigal (.310/.383/.536, 5HR), not long back from a fractured thumb, was headed to the DL again. This time he’d fractured a rib, and expected at least 6 weeks in civvies.
Notable Trades/Signings
3 Nov: 31 y/o Jay Cummins (5-2, 1.92 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) declared at today’s press conference that he wanted to be known at the end of his career as a “one-team player.” He’d just signed a 6-year extension with the Fury. He was in his 8th season in the majors.
Month Awards
Rookie of the Month: 21 y/o Jorge “Three Finger” Diaz was indeed missing 2 fingers, on his left hand, thanks to a forestry accident when he was 13 years old. Discovered in Brazil by Kununurra’s scouts, Diaz was a RH 1B who projected to be a .330 hitter with plus power. He’d played 86 games of AA-ball last season before getting a March call-up, and this season had won a spot in Kununurra’s top 25. He still had some ways to go developmentally, but won November’s RotM with a .381/.394/.629 effort in 23 games. His 37-97 included 13 doubles, 1 triple and 3HR. He also scored 20 runs, but only walked twice.
Hurler of the Month: Roos’ SP Brock Casey snared this honour. He went 5-0 from 6 starts in the month, putting together a 2.08 ERA, a 3.23 FIP, and a 0.97 WHIP. He also fanned 29 in 39.0 IP. For the season he led the league in wins by 2, with 9, and in FIP, with 3.13. He was also tied atop the WAR board, with 2.2.
Slugger of the Month: Patrick Maggs was unabashedly looking for a big payday next season and beyond. Winning November’s SotM wouldn’t have hampered his prospects any. He was .351/.443/.667 in the month, 39-111, with 28 runs, 11 doubles, 8HR, 29RBI, and 19BB. Maggs, .332/.405/.629 for the season, led the league in OPS, wOBA (.433), and XBH (37).
Other Notes
Coastal Division: Darwin (17-11) extended their lead to 6 games as Cairns (12-16) dropped off the boil.
East-West Division: Brisbane (16-12) found their lead chopped to 2 games as Newcastle (19-9) accelerated. Meanwhile Central Coast (14-14) played .500 ball across the month to haul themselves off the foot of the division ladder. They were still 9 games below .500 for the season, though.
NZ Division: Christchurch (13-15) slid, ending the month in 3rd, 7 games behind leaders Wellington (21-7), who were phenomenal in November, and 2 games back from Whangarei (15-13) who continued to play above expectations.
Southern Division: Sydney (14-14) held onto the division lead, Canberra (15-13) 2 games in arrears.
Wildcard: Newcastle were comfortably in front in slot 1, with Whangarei in the 2nd slot, holding a 1-game advantage over Cairns, and 2 games in front of Canberra and Christchurch.
#
Marcos Lopez (.375/.422/.575, 9HR) had a BA above .400 on 7 days in November, on the 11th, from 15th-17th, and 20th-22nd. A poor final week dropped his BA to only 5 points ahead of Martin Boston (.370/.413/.434, 0HR). Lopez’s 90 hits was also a league-best, as was his WAR of 4.1.
Boston was 2nd in the WAR race, with 3.2, and his 87 hits was also 2nd only to Lopez. Boston did lead the league in steals, though, with 26, 8 more than Alan Sneddon (.288/.439/.369, 1HR). Boston had his eyes on Sneddon’s season steals record, saying he wanted to be the 1st player to nick 70 in a season.
Sneddon might not have led the league in steals, but he was at his usual place atop the walks board, having drawn 53, 10 more than anybody else.
Joshua Angwin (.320/.359/.649, 22HR) led the league in HRs, by 2, as well as in SLG, ISO (.329), and total bases (148).
Yong-jun Chu (.307/.347/.447, 6HR) had scored the most runs of any player, with 51 so far.
Stefan Lock (.316/.361/.577, 13HR) had hit 22 doubles, 1 more than anybody else, and driven in 57 runners, 3 more than anybody else.
Edwin Kerr (7-3, 2.43 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 0.95 WHIP) led the league in WHIP, H/9 (6.64), and opponents’ AVG (.202).
Adelaide’s Karl Bell (4-5, 3.26 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) and Cairns’ Domenic Eastick (7-4, 3.51 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) were tied with Casey atop the WAR board, all with 2.2. Bell was also tied for the best HR/9, with a 0.35 mark.
Brad King (7-3, 4.24 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) had 76 strikeouts, top of the league, and a 10.06 K/9, also a league-best.
Hen-to Ling, 35 y/o, was being used as a closer for the 1st time in his 12-year career. He had 18 saves for Cairns, the most of any closer in the league.
Standings, Dec 1