OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL, 2019-2119)

Izz · 01-21-2017, 04:29 AM

2060/2061 Season - March

Notable Performances

1 Mar: Luigi Dempster’s hit streak ended at 20 games. He went 0-4 in Wellington’s 5-1 loss to Adelaide.

1 Mar: Cairns might’ve got upended 5-2 by Whangarei, but Stephane Lecomte still had a great night, going 2-4 with a double. In the 3rd he hustled to beat out the throw on a soft grounder between 3B and short for an infield single. The very next pitch he stole 2B. Steal number 68 for the season and Lecomte was now the single-season record holder!

1 Mar: A 6-run 9th made Hobart’s 14-7 defeat of Brisbane seem less of a contest than it was. Maurice Clemens starred in the victory, his 2-5 both home runs. That jumped him to 41HR, giving him a share of the lead and making him the 4th player to pass the 40HR mark in 2060.

2 Mar: Quentin Welch had his hit streak snapped at 22 games in Perth’s 4-1 loss to Auckland. Welch went 0-2 with a walk.

3 Mar: Whangarei rookie Burt Trewartha became the 1st AUNZBL player ever to register 7 hits in a game, doing so in the Sluggers’ 13-11 extra-innings win over Hobart. He went 7-7, 6 of those hits coming in regulation time. Not only that, but he also slugged 3HR, going deep in the 2nd, 9th (to tie things up), and 11th (to walk off a winner). He scored 5 runs too, tying the AUNZBL extra-innings game record. The 25 y/o CF, who teammates said was a known stat-head, remarked to media after the game, “Yeah, that was good, wasn’t it? Pulled my OPS above .700 and my OPS+ all the way up to 88. And yes, I am being somewhat sarcastic. I think this is one of those things a mathematician might call a ‘blip.’” In all honesty, various sabermetricians agreed afterwards, he was probably right. But what a blip to have on your record!

3 Mar: Greg Ahern crashed through the 200K barrier, though he didn’t get the win in Sydney’s 4-3 defeat of Newcastle, the Blue Sox having to score 2 in the bottom of the 9th to after Newcastle rattled their cage with 3 runs in the top of the inning. Ahern deserved a win however, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings of scoreless ball. In terms of strikeouts, he did the ‘Buzzard’ 10 times, pushing him - temporarily in all likelihood - to the head of the strikeout list.

4 Mar: Ronald Pedley, in his 5th big-league start of the season, allowed Christchurch only 7 hits, fanning 3, to lead Central Coast to a 4-0 shutout victory. Pedley had 3 prior major-league shutouts to his name, all achieved in the 2056 season while playing for Perth.

5 Mar: Central Coast’s Juan Moran was even more impressive than Pedley yesterday, keeping Christchurch to just 2 hits and 1 walk, punching out 7, in another 4-0 shutout win.

7 Mar: Mitchell Cox lived up to his nickname of ‘Big Thunder’ over the last week, putting the hurt to opposition pitchers in as close to a perfect display of contact hitting as would ever be seen in a baseball competition. He went 16-20, for an .800/.833/.800 stat-line. All his hits were singles. He scored 5, drove in 5, walked 3 times, and stole 3 bases.

9 Mar: Central Coast’s pitchers were certainly hitting form at the pointy end of the season. Ethan Humphries bamboozled Newcastle, conceding just 2 hits and 2 walks in 9 innings of shutout ball. He struck out 7 and the Thunder won by their favourite scoreline: 4-0. The win saw Central Coast draw level on top peg with Kununurra in the East-West.

9 Mar: Stephane Lecomte became the 1st AUNZBL player ever to steal 70 bases in a season, doing so in the Crocs’ 8-5 win over Melbourne.

9 Mar: A 6-run 8th from Syndey toppled Brisbane 7-6. For the losers, Richard Moore slugged HR number 40 for the season. He was the 5th player to the mark.

10 Mar: With his 3rd HR in 3 games Luigi Dempster became the 6th player to 40 for the season. Dempster was also the overall standout for Wellington in their 9-3 dismantling of the Metros, going 4-4 with a double, 2 runs and 3RBI.

11 Mar: Auckland lost their 100th game of the season, going down 11-6 to arch-rivals Wellington. This was the 2nd consecutive season the once proud Metros had shelled 100 and the previous 4 seasons before that they’d lost at least 90. The 81-81 they’d finished with in 2054 was the only time since 2047, when they’d snared their last Championship, that they’d had a .500 or better season.

11 Mar: Barry Dean brought up his 20th win of the season in style. He went the whole game, giving up only 2 hits and 3 walks to lead Perth to a 7-0 shutout victory. Dean struck out 8 and Canberra’s skipper admitted after the game that his hitters had “no answers” to the Perth ace. Dean was the 2nd player in AUZNBL history, after Edward Delaney, to record back-to-back 20-win seasons. Delaney did his at age 32-33, Dean at age 23-24 (he was currently 25 y/o, but had started the season only 24). Dean was 1 strikeout behind Aherrn and now led the league in wins as well as ERA. Could a pitching Triple Crown be a possibility for the young gun?

14 Mar: Luigi Dempster won the penultimate PotW award, feasting on March pitching over the last 7 days to record a .560/.586/1.320 stat-line. Of his 14-25, 6 were HR. He also scored 10 and drove in 14.

14 Mar: Adelaide weren’t the 1st team assured a postseason berth - Hobart had known for a certainty they were going to the playoffs since the 10th - but they were the 1st team to win their division in 2060. Fittingly, they did so with a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Darwin, their closest division rivals at 10 games back prior to today’s proceedings.

14 Mar: Lance Ralston was back strutting his stuff for Wellington just in time to help them clinch a postseason appearance. He helped them to their 5th straight win today, keeping Canberra to naught across 9 innings while conceding only 3 hits and 3 walks to go with 5 strikeouts. While Ralston’s velocity was steadily dropping, he remained as difficult to pick and hit as he ever had thanks to his repertoire of pitches and his intelligent use of them.

15 Mar: Canberra had all but closed up shop for the season. Wellington followed up yesterday’s shutout with a 14-4 thumping of the hapless Cavalry and amongst the stars was Dempster, who went 4-5 with a double and 2HR. His 2nd jack was his 45th for the season, making him the 1st player to that mark.

15 Mar: Greg Ahern led the way in Sydney’s 6-1 defeat of the Sluggers, his 7 innings of 1-run ball accompanied by 10 strikeouts. That pushed him to 223 for the season, 11 ahead of Barry Dean, who was scheduled to start tomorrow.

15 Mar: Malcolm Pickhills became the 7th player to achieve the 40HR mark this season, his 2-run effort helpful in Adelaide’s 8-3 whipping of the Diggers.

15 Mar: Angelo Spear, back from injury, picked up his 1st win of this campaign for Melbourne against Hobart, allowing just 1 run off 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of a 2-1 victory. The win was the 213th of Spear’s career.

16 Mar: Known as a party animal, though guys who’d played with him throughout his career said he still trained as hard as anybody else, 36 y/o Sean Carr was doing his best to help Darwin get to the playoffs, though they were currently 4 games back from a wildcard slot. Today Darwin defeated Melbourne 5-1, but Carr would remember the game for a whole other reason. In the 6th he hit an RBI-single, part of a 4-run inning that saw Darwin pull away, and upon reaching 1B gave the fans an air guitar routine. That hit was the 2500th of his career. He was the 3rd player to that mark this season, and the 20th in AUNZBL history.

16 Mar: Dempster was finishing the regular season with a roar. His solo HR in the 4th inning of Wellington’s 12-1 loss to Perth was his 11th bomb of the month and put him on 46 for the year...

16 Mar: ...Dean was the player Dempster went deep off, that HR the only blemish of an 8-inning outing. Win 21 for the year. Dean's ERA dropped below 3.00 and he also punched out 11, moving him into a tie with Ahern at the top of the strikeout board.

16 Mar: It took 11 innings but Canberra ended their 5-game skid with an 8-5 win over Cairns. Front and centre was Jai Rowe, who went 5-6 with a double and HR. The 28 y/o was thriving in his 1st full season, hitting .315/.369/.497, with 25HR and a 4.0 WAR.

17 Mar: Hobart locked up the Southern Division with a 3-1 win over Auckland, their 94th victory of the year.

17 Mar: Edwin Hayes made it 8 players past 40HR in 2060, doing so via a 3-run blast in Central Coast’s 6-5 loss to Whangarei. Hayes, who’d played with Jorge Diaz at Kununurra and been the other half of 2056’s HR shootout, hitting 53, said he was “gutted” that his good friend had been forced to quit the game. “Future generations won’t know what we’ve lost,” he said, “but everybody around today does: Jorge's already a legend but in a few more seasons he would've been in any conversation for greatest of all time.”

18 Mar: In the scheme of the season it meant little, as even after today’s result Perth’s chances of making the postseason were officially over, but Jesus Solis still deserved to carry himself with pride. He threw the 1st shutout of his big-league career, restricting Wellington to only 2 hits. He walked none and struck out 9 in the 4-0 win and said afterwards, “I was in the zone, man. Just pitch, get the ball back, pitch. I might as well have been throwing them peas out there.”

19 Mar: Sydney lost 4-1 to Adelaide but were still celebrating heartily after the game. Down country in Melbourne, Darwin had fallen 11-6 thus gifting the Blue Sox a postseason berth. This also meant that Central Coast, who beat Whangarei 4-2, would also feature in the playoffs, but whether that would be as a wildcard or division winner remained to be seen.

19 Mar: Zachariah Pond might’ve been on the losing team in that 11-6 loss to Melbourne but he got plenty of Aces whiffing. In 5 innings he fanned 12 to catapult him past the 200 strikeout mark.

19 Mar: Marty Okolita was also on the losing side in the Whangarei-Central Coast clash but he too passed 200 strikeouts, notching up 8 in 5.2 innings.

20 Mar: The final off day of the regular season. This year, the only playoff competitor not decided was in the NZ between Wellington and Christchurch. The Fury, who’d lost their last 4, had a 3-game lead and would tomorrow begin a 4-game series at home against Cairns. Christchurch, victorious in their last 2, would take on Brisbane, also at home.

While both Kununurra and Central Coast were assured of postseason berths and would both feature in the opening round of the playoffs, the East-West Division title was still up for grabs. Kununurra had a lead of 2 and a magic number of 3. They would host Whangarei while Central Coast would host Adelaide.

21 Mar: The season’s last PotW went to youngster Andre Wiltshire, who hit .667/.696/.952.

21 Mar: Wellington disposed of Cairns 9-1, the highlight being Christos Spargo’s 6th-inning Grand Slam. Christchurch also won, fighting past Brisbane 4-3 to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. The Fury’s magic number was now 1.

21 Mar: In a high-scoring encounter, Kununurra saw off a late comeback by Whangarei to win 13-11. Central Coast got beat in a tight one 4-3 by Adelaide, meaning Kununurra’s magic number was now also 1.

21 Mar: Barry Dean was once again excellent, throwing 8 innings for 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 run in his final start of the year. Perth won the game 4-1 and Dean had equalled his 22 wins from last season. He struck out 8, putting him on 231 punch-outs for the year. Ahern was due to start tomorrow. If he whiffed less than 8 Dean was a pretty safe bet to record a pitching Triple Crown as the ERA of the closest qualified pitchers still to throw this season were at least 23 points back.

21 Mar: Angelo Spear finished a frustrating season on a good note, his 6.1 innings going for just 2 runs in Melbourne’s 7-2 battering of Sydney. Spear would head into 2061 with 214 career wins, 7 clear on that leaderboard. Clint Aitcheson, who would also get 1 more start this season was currently on 195 career wins, 19 in arrears.

22 Mar: Wellington sewed up the NZ with an 8-7 defeat of Cairns, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. With the scores locked at 5 apiece at the end of regulation time, the game progressed to extra innings. Cairns went 2 ahead in the 10th. Wellington, however, refused to lie down and proceeded to go on a 2-out rally that ended with Rick Roughley’s loaded bases walk bringing home the winning run. Christchurch also won, slugging 4HR in their 7-2 victory over Brisbane, but it was all for naught. They’d have to settle for missing the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.

22 Mar: The East-West was decided too, Kununurra emphatically disposing of Whangarei 9-0 to win the pennant. Rhett Meehan was superb, going 8.1 innings for just 2 hits and 2 walks before getting pulled 1 out into the 9th in sight of a shutout. The fans were once again left scratching their heads at Cameron Hutcheon’s tactics but the joy of a division title took the heat off him somewhat. Central Coast were tipped up 7-3 by Adelaide but would still feature in the postseason, doing so for the 6th straight season and the 11th time in the last 13 years.

22 Mar: The Blue Sox might’ve imploded to lose 6-3 to Melbourne but for most of his outing Greg Ahern looked good. He threw 7 innings for 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. He struck out only 6, meaning he’d finish the season 2 Ks behind Dean, on 229.

23 Mar: Cody Watts helped Sydney put an end to a 4-game losing streak, throwing a 2-hitter against Melbourne. Sydney won 2-0, Watts conceding just those 2 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 3 and only throwing 83 pitches. This was his 2nd shutout of the season, a feat he’d now achieved 3 years running.

Notable Injuries

1 Mar: Hobart would be without Connor Chapman (10-14, 4.35 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 1.43 WHIP) for postseason festivities. While the 35 y/o hadn’t been pitching all that well this season he would be missed come playoff time, having appeared in 6 postseason campaigns in his career-to-date.

2 Mar: Another injury blow for Hobart, though Norman Ladds (.242/.352/.450, 27HR) was expected to make it back just in time for the postseason. Ladds had an oblique strain. Hobart, sitting at 90-52, had a magic number of 7.

6 Mar: Wellington would be hoping Will Glasson (.311/.389/.475, 14HR) would recover from a bone bruise on his wrist in time for the playoffs. Wellington were currently 5 games ahead of the Cowboys in the NZ.

8 Mar: Jayden Downes (.301/.326/.386, 6HR) could book an early holiday. The Melbourne slap hitter had a strained rib cage muscle and would play no further part in proceedings this season.

17 Mar: Hobart wouldn’t have the services of livewire Ignacio Maldonado (.262/.339/.408, 17HR, 48SB) for the rest of the regular season, but were hopeful he’d be recovered from knee tendinitis by the time they entered the postseason fray.

21 Mar: Guillermo Julio’s (.303/.376/.389, 6HR, 43SB) season was over thanks to shoulder tendinitis.

21 Mar: Tom Doig (.282/.362/.540, 26HR from 481PA) had a rib cage muscle strain that would keep him out of action until at least the end of the regular season. Central Coast management were mum on whether they’d bring him off the DL for the 1st round of the playoffs.

23 Mar: Many commentators over the course of the season had remarked that Hobart appeared to be overplaying 2B Maurice Clemens (.246/.342/.514, 43HR from 153 started games) and that he was running a high risk of injury. Now, with the playoffs only a few days away, that fear had been realized. Thankfully his sprained ankle wasn’t too severe and would only keep him sidelined for around 2 weeks. Whether Hobart would put him on their playoff roster for their 2nd round entrance, even though he’d only be fit for some of the series, remained to be seen.

25 Mar: Ed Geoghegan (.275/.360/.511, 29HR) had had an injury prone year already but now had to face the news that he’d miss the entire postseason with a fractured finger. With Diaz gone, Tomas Zartuche also out for the duration of the playoffs, and with Gary Young still a few days away from returning, skipper Luis Gonzalez had to admit they’d “lost a fair bit of firepower.”

Notable Trades/Signings

18 Mar: Canberra had made the playoffs the last 2 seasons despite expert expectations, so most expected skipper Leon Moreno to get a reprieve after this season’s result. Expectations were often far from reality, as was borne out at today's press conference. With 6 days in the regular season left, Moreno had been given the boot. GM Stephen Goodwin told media, “Leon will get another job in the league, I have no doubt. But we had to make a statement to all involved in this organization, and sadly that statement had to be made by way of Leon.”

Media Watch

Young-tae Lee: Lee got a March call-up to the Crocs’ big-league squad but sat the entire month on the pine without even getting a single at-bat. The 44 y/o was philosophical about it, however, saying, “Sure I was ready and willing. Hell, I’d have been out in the on-deck circle before coach had even finished the sentence. But even though I didn’t get to swing in front of a major-league crowd again it was still nice to experience the big-league atmosphere from the dugout again.”

Other Notes

Pitching Triple Crown!!!! Barry Dean (22-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) did it, finishing the season with the most wins, best ERA, and most strikeouts (231). It was no fluke either - in case anybody dared to wonder - as he also led the league in FIP and WAR (6.6), was 3rd in WHIP, 2nd in H/9 (7.57), 3rd in OAVG (.232), and 2nd in innings pitched (236.2). Surely he would be the 1st player to win back-to-back HotY awards since Tyler Silk in 2021 and 2022. After only 4 years in the majors Dean had a 71-32 record and it would be sad not to see him in the postseason. In both his previous playoff appearances (2057, 2058), he’d been injured in his 1st start and missed the rest of the action.

Rich Downes (.338/.374/.508, 17HR) capped off a remarkable rookie season with the batting award, the AUNZBL belatedly - and controversially - deciding Jorge Diaz didn’t qualify although he’d met the minimum PA requirements before retiring. Downes only shrugged when questioned about how he felt, saying, “Bit of a false dawn really, isn’t it?” Downes also finished atop the hits board (220), and rapped 55 doubles, another league-best and good enough for equal 4th-best all-time on the season leaderboard.

3 other players reached 200 hits:

Jai Rowe (.314/.370/.507, 28HR, 210 hits)
Stephane Lecomte (.311/.378/.394, 3HR, 206 hits)
Angus Wheeler (.307/.353/.481, 23HR, 206 hits)

Lecomte finished the season with 74 stolen bases, 24 more than next-best Carlos Aguilar (.303/.374/.403, 6HR).

Luigi Dempster (.298/.365/.560, 46HR) won the HR race.

Along with Dempster, the following batters slugged 40+ HR:

Nigel Anderton (.297/.365/.559, 44HR)
Rowan Kimpton (.309/.345/.556, 44HR)
Maurice Clemens (.246/.342/.514, 43HR)
Edwin Hayes (.259/.327/.527, 43HR)
Malcolm Pickhills (.289/.372/.565, 42HR)
Richard Moore (.306/.415/.558, 41HR)

Anderton finished atop the RBI board, with 148, and safely rounded the most bases, totalling 357.

Pickhills had the league’s best WAR (8.0), best SLG and ISO (276), and most extra-base hits (78).

Moore topped the OPS and wOBA (.411) trees.

Armando Santos (.262/.315/.514, 39HR) set a new season record for strikeouts, amassing 215. The Peruvian was nonchalant when asked about his feat, saying, “I swing and miss sometimes, but other times I hit the ball a long way.”

Two players achieved the runs-walks double-double: Moore (113-109), and Ronald Aitken (.293/.436/.498, 28HR, 102 runs, 140BB). Aitken finished the season with 31 more free passes than anybody else.

Alan Sneddon (.333/.443/.489, 9HR) finished 7 walks short of 100, the 1st time he’d missed that mark in a full season (at least 502PAs) since 2047. He did finish atop the OBP board, however. He also finished the year with 99 career HRs.

Cain Donaldson (.314/.403/.420, 8HR) scored the most runs of any major-leaguer, crossing homeplate safely 116 times.

Dylan Glynn’s (.309/.350/.448, 12HR) 12 triples put him atop the AUNZBL. This was the 3rd time in his career he’d topped the league in that category.

Apart from Dean, 3 other pitchers amassed 200+ strikeouts:

Greg Ahern (15-11, 3.65 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 229 strikeouts)
Zachariah Pond (11-11, 4.98 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 213 strikeouts)
Marty Okolita (13-8, 4.17 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 204 strikeouts)

Ahern, unenviably, led the league in homeruns allowed for the 2nd year straight, this season surrendering 40.

Okolita had the best K/9 rate of all qualified pitchers, with 10.01.

Brock Lawless (8-6, 3.21 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) had the AUNZBL’s best WHIP.

Teammate Marcello Thornton (15-7, 3.14 ERA, 5.13 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) needed to send his fielders chocolates. He boasted the league’s best OAVG (.231) and H/9 (7.57).

Another Prospect led the league in saves. Isaac Canavan (8-1, 49 sv, 1.45 ERA, 1.97 FIP, 0.89 WHIP) had an astounding season, his 49 saves the highest season total since Ian Naismith set the current record of 51 back in 2036. Even the great Brodie Backhouse had never recorded more than 46 saves in a season. Canavan also pitched in a league-high 77 games, striking out 137 in 87 innings pitched.

ABC Wrap-up

At the conclusion of the AUNZBL season the ABC still had 3 games remaining. The only playoff spot not decided was in the Northern Division, where Brisbane held a 2-game lead over Alice Springs.

Melbourne would represent the Southern Division, Kalgoorlie the Western Division, and Jakarta the Overseas Division.

35 y/o Rowan Reardon (.336/.441/.677, 56HR) crushed the previous ABC season HR record, and the talkback lines were alight with discussion of how he’d go in the AUNZBL. Of course, no deals had been signed yet, but everybody seemed to think it was a foregone conclusion. Commonly, the chatter went like this, “56HR in a pitcher-friendly league! Just imagine what he could do in the hitter-friendly AUNZBL!”

Satya Susanti (17-7, 1.98 ERA, 1.94 FIP, 0.82 WHIP) was lights-out for the whole season, crushing the 300 K barrier, finishing up with 311, over 100 more than next-best, at a 10.81 K/9 rate. He also topped the ABC in FIP, WAR (10.1), H/9 (5.94), OAVG (.184), and IP (259.0). He was in fact contracted to Hobart for 1 more season, so AUNZBL fans would have to wait a while longer to see if he’d turn out for their league.

AUNZBL Standings, Nov 1

01-21-2017, 04:29 AM	#683
Izz Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 2,470	2060/2061 Season - March 2060/2061 Season - March Notable Performances 1 Mar: Luigi Dempster’s hit streak ended at 20 games. He went 0-4 in Wellington’s 5-1 loss to Adelaide. 1 Mar: Cairns might’ve got upended 5-2 by Whangarei, but Stephane Lecomte still had a great night, going 2-4 with a double. In the 3rd he hustled to beat out the throw on a soft grounder between 3B and short for an infield single. The very next pitch he stole 2B. Steal number 68 for the season and Lecomte was now the single-season record holder! 1 Mar: A 6-run 9th made Hobart’s 14-7 defeat of Brisbane seem less of a contest than it was. Maurice Clemens starred in the victory, his 2-5 both home runs. That jumped him to 41HR, giving him a share of the lead and making him the 4th player to pass the 40HR mark in 2060. 2 Mar: Quentin Welch had his hit streak snapped at 22 games in Perth’s 4-1 loss to Auckland. Welch went 0-2 with a walk. 3 Mar: Whangarei rookie Burt Trewartha became the 1st AUNZBL player ever to register 7 hits in a game, doing so in the Sluggers’ 13-11 extra-innings win over Hobart. He went 7-7, 6 of those hits coming in regulation time. Not only that, but he also slugged 3HR, going deep in the 2nd, 9th (to tie things up), and 11th (to walk off a winner). He scored 5 runs too, tying the AUNZBL extra-innings game record. The 25 y/o CF, who teammates said was a known stat-head, remarked to media after the game, “Yeah, that was good, wasn’t it? Pulled my OPS above .700 and my OPS+ all the way up to 88. And yes, I am being somewhat sarcastic. I think this is one of those things a mathematician might call a ‘blip.’” In all honesty, various sabermetricians agreed afterwards, he was probably right. But what a blip to have on your record! 3 Mar: Greg Ahern crashed through the 200K barrier, though he didn’t get the win in Sydney’s 4-3 defeat of Newcastle, the Blue Sox having to score 2 in the bottom of the 9th to after Newcastle rattled their cage with 3 runs in the top of the inning. Ahern deserved a win however, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks in 8 innings of scoreless ball. In terms of strikeouts, he did the ‘Buzzard’ 10 times, pushing him - temporarily in all likelihood - to the head of the strikeout list. 4 Mar: Ronald Pedley, in his 5th big-league start of the season, allowed Christchurch only 7 hits, fanning 3, to lead Central Coast to a 4-0 shutout victory. Pedley had 3 prior major-league shutouts to his name, all achieved in the 2056 season while playing for Perth. 5 Mar: Central Coast’s Juan Moran was even more impressive than Pedley yesterday, keeping Christchurch to just 2 hits and 1 walk, punching out 7, in another 4-0 shutout win. 7 Mar: Mitchell Cox lived up to his nickname of ‘Big Thunder’ over the last week, putting the hurt to opposition pitchers in as close to a perfect display of contact hitting as would ever be seen in a baseball competition. He went 16-20, for an .800/.833/.800 stat-line. All his hits were singles. He scored 5, drove in 5, walked 3 times, and stole 3 bases. 9 Mar: Central Coast’s pitchers were certainly hitting form at the pointy end of the season. Ethan Humphries bamboozled Newcastle, conceding just 2 hits and 2 walks in 9 innings of shutout ball. He struck out 7 and the Thunder won by their favourite scoreline: 4-0. The win saw Central Coast draw level on top peg with Kununurra in the East-West. 9 Mar: Stephane Lecomte became the 1st AUNZBL player ever to steal 70 bases in a season, doing so in the Crocs’ 8-5 win over Melbourne. 9 Mar: A 6-run 8th from Syndey toppled Brisbane 7-6. For the losers, Richard Moore slugged HR number 40 for the season. He was the 5th player to the mark. 10 Mar: With his 3rd HR in 3 games Luigi Dempster became the 6th player to 40 for the season. Dempster was also the overall standout for Wellington in their 9-3 dismantling of the Metros, going 4-4 with a double, 2 runs and 3RBI. 11 Mar: Auckland lost their 100th game of the season, going down 11-6 to arch-rivals Wellington. This was the 2nd consecutive season the once proud Metros had shelled 100 and the previous 4 seasons before that they’d lost at least 90. The 81-81 they’d finished with in 2054 was the only time since 2047, when they’d snared their last Championship, that they’d had a .500 or better season. 11 Mar: Barry Dean brought up his 20th win of the season in style. He went the whole game, giving up only 2 hits and 3 walks to lead Perth to a 7-0 shutout victory. Dean struck out 8 and Canberra’s skipper admitted after the game that his hitters had “no answers” to the Perth ace. Dean was the 2nd player in AUZNBL history, after Edward Delaney, to record back-to-back 20-win seasons. Delaney did his at age 32-33, Dean at age 23-24 (he was currently 25 y/o, but had started the season only 24). Dean was 1 strikeout behind Aherrn and now led the league in wins as well as ERA. Could a pitching Triple Crown be a possibility for the young gun? 14 Mar: Luigi Dempster won the penultimate PotW award, feasting on March pitching over the last 7 days to record a .560/.586/1.320 stat-line. Of his 14-25, 6 were HR. He also scored 10 and drove in 14. 14 Mar: Adelaide weren’t the 1st team assured a postseason berth - Hobart had known for a certainty they were going to the playoffs since the 10th - but they were the 1st team to win their division in 2060. Fittingly, they did so with a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Darwin, their closest division rivals at 10 games back prior to today’s proceedings. 14 Mar: Lance Ralston was back strutting his stuff for Wellington just in time to help them clinch a postseason appearance. He helped them to their 5th straight win today, keeping Canberra to naught across 9 innings while conceding only 3 hits and 3 walks to go with 5 strikeouts. While Ralston’s velocity was steadily dropping, he remained as difficult to pick and hit as he ever had thanks to his repertoire of pitches and his intelligent use of them. 15 Mar: Canberra had all but closed up shop for the season. Wellington followed up yesterday’s shutout with a 14-4 thumping of the hapless Cavalry and amongst the stars was Dempster, who went 4-5 with a double and 2HR. His 2nd jack was his 45th for the season, making him the 1st player to that mark. 15 Mar: Greg Ahern led the way in Sydney’s 6-1 defeat of the Sluggers, his 7 innings of 1-run ball accompanied by 10 strikeouts. That pushed him to 223 for the season, 11 ahead of Barry Dean, who was scheduled to start tomorrow. 15 Mar: Malcolm Pickhills became the 7th player to achieve the 40HR mark this season, his 2-run effort helpful in Adelaide’s 8-3 whipping of the Diggers. 15 Mar: Angelo Spear, back from injury, picked up his 1st win of this campaign for Melbourne against Hobart, allowing just 1 run off 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of a 2-1 victory. The win was the 213th of Spear’s career. 16 Mar: Known as a party animal, though guys who’d played with him throughout his career said he still trained as hard as anybody else, 36 y/o Sean Carr was doing his best to help Darwin get to the playoffs, though they were currently 4 games back from a wildcard slot. Today Darwin defeated Melbourne 5-1, but Carr would remember the game for a whole other reason. In the 6th he hit an RBI-single, part of a 4-run inning that saw Darwin pull away, and upon reaching 1B gave the fans an air guitar routine. That hit was the 2500th of his career. He was the 3rd player to that mark this season, and the 20th in AUNZBL history. 16 Mar: Dempster was finishing the regular season with a roar. His solo HR in the 4th inning of Wellington’s 12-1 loss to Perth was his 11th bomb of the month and put him on 46 for the year... 16 Mar: ...Dean was the player Dempster went deep off, that HR the only blemish of an 8-inning outing. Win 21 for the year. Dean's ERA dropped below 3.00 and he also punched out 11, moving him into a tie with Ahern at the top of the strikeout board. 16 Mar: It took 11 innings but Canberra ended their 5-game skid with an 8-5 win over Cairns. Front and centre was Jai Rowe, who went 5-6 with a double and HR. The 28 y/o was thriving in his 1st full season, hitting .315/.369/.497, with 25HR and a 4.0 WAR. 17 Mar: Hobart locked up the Southern Division with a 3-1 win over Auckland, their 94th victory of the year. 17 Mar: Edwin Hayes made it 8 players past 40HR in 2060, doing so via a 3-run blast in Central Coast’s 6-5 loss to Whangarei. Hayes, who’d played with Jorge Diaz at Kununurra and been the other half of 2056’s HR shootout, hitting 53, said he was “gutted” that his good friend had been forced to quit the game. “Future generations won’t know what we’ve lost,” he said, “but everybody around today does: Jorge's already a legend but in a few more seasons he would've been in any conversation for greatest of all time.” 18 Mar: In the scheme of the season it meant little, as even after today’s result Perth’s chances of making the postseason were officially over, but Jesus Solis still deserved to carry himself with pride. He threw the 1st shutout of his big-league career, restricting Wellington to only 2 hits. He walked none and struck out 9 in the 4-0 win and said afterwards, “I was in the zone, man. Just pitch, get the ball back, pitch. I might as well have been throwing them peas out there.” 19 Mar: Sydney lost 4-1 to Adelaide but were still celebrating heartily after the game. Down country in Melbourne, Darwin had fallen 11-6 thus gifting the Blue Sox a postseason berth. This also meant that Central Coast, who beat Whangarei 4-2, would also feature in the playoffs, but whether that would be as a wildcard or division winner remained to be seen. 19 Mar: Zachariah Pond might’ve been on the losing team in that 11-6 loss to Melbourne but he got plenty of Aces whiffing. In 5 innings he fanned 12 to catapult him past the 200 strikeout mark. 19 Mar: Marty Okolita was also on the losing side in the Whangarei-Central Coast clash but he too passed 200 strikeouts, notching up 8 in 5.2 innings. 20 Mar: The final off day of the regular season. This year, the only playoff competitor not decided was in the NZ between Wellington and Christchurch. The Fury, who’d lost their last 4, had a 3-game lead and would tomorrow begin a 4-game series at home against Cairns. Christchurch, victorious in their last 2, would take on Brisbane, also at home. While both Kununurra and Central Coast were assured of postseason berths and would both feature in the opening round of the playoffs, the East-West Division title was still up for grabs. Kununurra had a lead of 2 and a magic number of 3. They would host Whangarei while Central Coast would host Adelaide. 21 Mar: The season’s last PotW went to youngster Andre Wiltshire, who hit .667/.696/.952. 21 Mar: Wellington disposed of Cairns 9-1, the highlight being Christos Spargo’s 6th-inning Grand Slam. Christchurch also won, fighting past Brisbane 4-3 to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. The Fury’s magic number was now 1. 21 Mar: In a high-scoring encounter, Kununurra saw off a late comeback by Whangarei to win 13-11. Central Coast got beat in a tight one 4-3 by Adelaide, meaning Kununurra’s magic number was now also 1. 21 Mar: Barry Dean was once again excellent, throwing 8 innings for 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 run in his final start of the year. Perth won the game 4-1 and Dean had equalled his 22 wins from last season. He struck out 8, putting him on 231 punch-outs for the year. Ahern was due to start tomorrow. If he whiffed less than 8 Dean was a pretty safe bet to record a pitching Triple Crown as the ERA of the closest qualified pitchers still to throw this season were at least 23 points back. 21 Mar: Angelo Spear finished a frustrating season on a good note, his 6.1 innings going for just 2 runs in Melbourne’s 7-2 battering of Sydney. Spear would head into 2061 with 214 career wins, 7 clear on that leaderboard. Clint Aitcheson, who would also get 1 more start this season was currently on 195 career wins, 19 in arrears. 22 Mar: Wellington sewed up the NZ with an 8-7 defeat of Cairns, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. With the scores locked at 5 apiece at the end of regulation time, the game progressed to extra innings. Cairns went 2 ahead in the 10th. Wellington, however, refused to lie down and proceeded to go on a 2-out rally that ended with Rick Roughley’s loaded bases walk bringing home the winning run. Christchurch also won, slugging 4HR in their 7-2 victory over Brisbane, but it was all for naught. They’d have to settle for missing the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. 22 Mar: The East-West was decided too, Kununurra emphatically disposing of Whangarei 9-0 to win the pennant. Rhett Meehan was superb, going 8.1 innings for just 2 hits and 2 walks before getting pulled 1 out into the 9th in sight of a shutout. The fans were once again left scratching their heads at Cameron Hutcheon’s tactics but the joy of a division title took the heat off him somewhat. Central Coast were tipped up 7-3 by Adelaide but would still feature in the postseason, doing so for the 6th straight season and the 11th time in the last 13 years. 22 Mar: The Blue Sox might’ve imploded to lose 6-3 to Melbourne but for most of his outing Greg Ahern looked good. He threw 7 innings for 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. He struck out only 6, meaning he’d finish the season 2 Ks behind Dean, on 229. 23 Mar: Cody Watts helped Sydney put an end to a 4-game losing streak, throwing a 2-hitter against Melbourne. Sydney won 2-0, Watts conceding just those 2 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 3 and only throwing 83 pitches. This was his 2nd shutout of the season, a feat he’d now achieved 3 years running. Notable Injuries 1 Mar: Hobart would be without Connor Chapman (10-14, 4.35 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 1.43 WHIP) for postseason festivities. While the 35 y/o hadn’t been pitching all that well this season he would be missed come playoff time, having appeared in 6 postseason campaigns in his career-to-date. 2 Mar: Another injury blow for Hobart, though Norman Ladds (.242/.352/.450, 27HR) was expected to make it back just in time for the postseason. Ladds had an oblique strain. Hobart, sitting at 90-52, had a magic number of 7. 6 Mar: Wellington would be hoping Will Glasson (.311/.389/.475, 14HR) would recover from a bone bruise on his wrist in time for the playoffs. Wellington were currently 5 games ahead of the Cowboys in the NZ. 8 Mar: Jayden Downes (.301/.326/.386, 6HR) could book an early holiday. The Melbourne slap hitter had a strained rib cage muscle and would play no further part in proceedings this season. 17 Mar: Hobart wouldn’t have the services of livewire Ignacio Maldonado (.262/.339/.408, 17HR, 48SB) for the rest of the regular season, but were hopeful he’d be recovered from knee tendinitis by the time they entered the postseason fray. 21 Mar: Guillermo Julio’s (.303/.376/.389, 6HR, 43SB) season was over thanks to shoulder tendinitis. 21 Mar: Tom Doig (.282/.362/.540, 26HR from 481PA) had a rib cage muscle strain that would keep him out of action until at least the end of the regular season. Central Coast management were mum on whether they’d bring him off the DL for the 1st round of the playoffs. 23 Mar: Many commentators over the course of the season had remarked that Hobart appeared to be overplaying 2B Maurice Clemens (.246/.342/.514, 43HR from 153 started games) and that he was running a high risk of injury. Now, with the playoffs only a few days away, that fear had been realized. Thankfully his sprained ankle wasn’t too severe and would only keep him sidelined for around 2 weeks. Whether Hobart would put him on their playoff roster for their 2nd round entrance, even though he’d only be fit for some of the series, remained to be seen. 25 Mar: Ed Geoghegan (.275/.360/.511, 29HR) had had an injury prone year already but now had to face the news that he’d miss the entire postseason with a fractured finger. With Diaz gone, Tomas Zartuche also out for the duration of the playoffs, and with Gary Young still a few days away from returning, skipper Luis Gonzalez had to admit they’d “lost a fair bit of firepower.” Notable Trades/Signings 18 Mar: Canberra had made the playoffs the last 2 seasons despite expert expectations, so most expected skipper Leon Moreno to get a reprieve after this season’s result. Expectations were often far from reality, as was borne out at today's press conference. With 6 days in the regular season left, Moreno had been given the boot. GM Stephen Goodwin told media, “Leon will get another job in the league, I have no doubt. But we had to make a statement to all involved in this organization, and sadly that statement had to be made by way of Leon.” Media Watch Young-tae Lee: Lee got a March call-up to the Crocs’ big-league squad but sat the entire month on the pine without even getting a single at-bat. The 44 y/o was philosophical about it, however, saying, “Sure I was ready and willing. Hell, I’d have been out in the on-deck circle before coach had even finished the sentence. But even though I didn’t get to swing in front of a major-league crowd again it was still nice to experience the big-league atmosphere from the dugout again.” Other Notes Pitching Triple Crown!!!! Barry Dean (22-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) did it, finishing the season with the most wins, best ERA, and most strikeouts (231). It was no fluke either - in case anybody dared to wonder - as he also led the league in FIP and WAR (6.6), was 3rd in WHIP, 2nd in H/9 (7.57), 3rd in OAVG (.232), and 2nd in innings pitched (236.2). Surely he would be the 1st player to win back-to-back HotY awards since Tyler Silk in 2021 and 2022. After only 4 years in the majors Dean had a 71-32 record and it would be sad not to see him in the postseason. In both his previous playoff appearances (2057, 2058), he’d been injured in his 1st start and missed the rest of the action. Rich Downes (.338/.374/.508, 17HR) capped off a remarkable rookie season with the batting award, the AUNZBL belatedly - and controversially - deciding Jorge Diaz didn’t qualify although he’d met the minimum PA requirements before retiring. Downes only shrugged when questioned about how he felt, saying, “Bit of a false dawn really, isn’t it?” Downes also finished atop the hits board (220), and rapped 55 doubles, another league-best and good enough for equal 4th-best all-time on the season leaderboard. 3 other players reached 200 hits: Jai Rowe (.314/.370/.507, 28HR, 210 hits) Stephane Lecomte (.311/.378/.394, 3HR, 206 hits) Angus Wheeler (.307/.353/.481, 23HR, 206 hits) Lecomte finished the season with 74 stolen bases, 24 more than next-best Carlos Aguilar (.303/.374/.403, 6HR). Luigi Dempster (.298/.365/.560, 46HR) won the HR race. Along with Dempster, the following batters slugged 40+ HR: Nigel Anderton (.297/.365/.559, 44HR) Rowan Kimpton (.309/.345/.556, 44HR) Maurice Clemens (.246/.342/.514, 43HR) Edwin Hayes (.259/.327/.527, 43HR) Malcolm Pickhills (.289/.372/.565, 42HR) Richard Moore (.306/.415/.558, 41HR) Anderton finished atop the RBI board, with 148, and safely rounded the most bases, totalling 357. Pickhills had the league’s best WAR (8.0), best SLG and ISO (276), and most extra-base hits (78). Moore topped the OPS and wOBA (.411) trees. Armando Santos (.262/.315/.514, 39HR) set a new season record for strikeouts, amassing 215. The Peruvian was nonchalant when asked about his feat, saying, “I swing and miss sometimes, but other times I hit the ball a long way.” Two players achieved the runs-walks double-double: Moore (113-109), and Ronald Aitken (.293/.436/.498, 28HR, 102 runs, 140BB). Aitken finished the season with 31 more free passes than anybody else. Alan Sneddon (.333/.443/.489, 9HR) finished 7 walks short of 100, the 1st time he’d missed that mark in a full season (at least 502PAs) since 2047. He did finish atop the OBP board, however. He also finished the year with 99 career HRs. Cain Donaldson (.314/.403/.420, 8HR) scored the most runs of any major-leaguer, crossing homeplate safely 116 times. Dylan Glynn’s (.309/.350/.448, 12HR) 12 triples put him atop the AUNZBL. This was the 3rd time in his career he’d topped the league in that category. Apart from Dean, 3 other pitchers amassed 200+ strikeouts: Greg Ahern (15-11, 3.65 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 229 strikeouts) Zachariah Pond (11-11, 4.98 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 213 strikeouts) Marty Okolita (13-8, 4.17 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 204 strikeouts) Ahern, unenviably, led the league in homeruns allowed for the 2nd year straight, this season surrendering 40. Okolita had the best K/9 rate of all qualified pitchers, with 10.01. Brock Lawless (8-6, 3.21 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) had the AUNZBL’s best WHIP. Teammate Marcello Thornton (15-7, 3.14 ERA, 5.13 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) needed to send his fielders chocolates. He boasted the league’s best OAVG (.231) and H/9 (7.57). Another Prospect led the league in saves. Isaac Canavan (8-1, 49 sv, 1.45 ERA, 1.97 FIP, 0.89 WHIP) had an astounding season, his 49 saves the highest season total since Ian Naismith set the current record of 51 back in 2036. Even the great Brodie Backhouse had never recorded more than 46 saves in a season. Canavan also pitched in a league-high 77 games, striking out 137 in 87 innings pitched. ABC Wrap-up At the conclusion of the AUNZBL season the ABC still had 3 games remaining. The only playoff spot not decided was in the Northern Division, where Brisbane held a 2-game lead over Alice Springs. Melbourne would represent the Southern Division, Kalgoorlie the Western Division, and Jakarta the Overseas Division. 35 y/o Rowan Reardon (.336/.441/.677, 56HR) crushed the previous ABC season HR record, and the talkback lines were alight with discussion of how he’d go in the AUNZBL. Of course, no deals had been signed yet, but everybody seemed to think it was a foregone conclusion. Commonly, the chatter went like this, “56HR in a pitcher-friendly league! Just imagine what he could do in the hitter-friendly AUNZBL!” Satya Susanti (17-7, 1.98 ERA, 1.94 FIP, 0.82 WHIP) was lights-out for the whole season, crushing the 300 K barrier, finishing up with 311, over 100 more than next-best, at a 10.81 K/9 rate. He also topped the ABC in FIP, WAR (10.1), H/9 (5.94), OAVG (.184), and IP (259.0). He was in fact contracted to Hobart for 1 more season, so AUNZBL fans would have to wait a while longer to see if he’d turn out for their league. AUNZBL Standings, Nov 1 Attached Images __________________ Not only do I play OOTP but I also write science-fiction: My Website A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report The National Penterham Four-Bases Association--A Dynasty Report Last edited by Izz; 01-29-2017 at 09:57 PM.