2062/2063 Season - October
Notable Performances
1 Oct: Christchurch DH Simon Morrow slugged 2 homers in the Cowboys’ 6-5 extra-innings win over Brisbane, earning top accolade in OotPB TV’s daily ‘Best Performances’ segment. The next morning, however, he found himself on a bus back to AAA-affiliate Balclutha Spiders. “Baseball’s weird,” was all he had to say when cornered by an intrepid journalist. Morrow longest stint in the majors had been his rookie year, 2059, where he hit .226/.297/.363, with 14HR, in 499PA.
2 Oct: 27 y/o Roy Blake was a decent pitcher who threw 3 different fastballs and a changeup. Across 2058-2059 he’d thrown well for Kununurra before being traded to Brisbane, where he’d not fared so well, losing 18 games last season (his FIP was a whole run lower than his ERA, highlighting the defensive woes that Brisbane had). He started 2062 off on the right foot, however, taking a perfect game into the bottom of the 6th before giving up a 2-out walk. He carried the no-hitter into the 8th, Cain Hayes breaking it up with a 2-out single. He conceded another single in the 9th but that was all she wrote, Brisbane gliding to a 3-0 win. Blake struck out 4 for a game score of 86. Brisbane didn’t score the game-clinching runs until the top of the 9th, when they took to a tiring Dan Pankhurst, who also threw a complete game but wouldn’t have felt nearly as happy about it as Blake.
2 Oct: Kununurra and Sydney jousted for 10 scoreless innings before the Pioneers hit three 2-out singles to score what would prove to be the winner. Blair Norris didn’t get the win for Kununurra, but he did throw 9 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 2. Closer Allen Jiang, who’d lost the game the previous night, took home the W. Norris, who had been known to give his teammates a public spray on occasion, shook his head when interviewed in the lockers after the game. “Some run support would’ve been nice,” he muttered. “Yeah, we won, but a shutout is way sexier than just being the guy who kept the team in it long enough to find a winner.”
4 Oct: Central Coast thumped Hobart 13-3. Justin Auger went 4-5 for the winners, hitting a Grand Slam in the 7th. The massive 441-foot effort was also the 400th round-tripper of Auger’s career. Now 36 y/o, Auger noted it was unlikely he’d make it to 500 home runs, but said he’d “give it his best shot.”
5 Oct: 25 y/o Rory ‘Super’ Karsumaatmaja certainly lived up to his nickname today. The RHP got his 1st ever major-league start, turning out for Sydney against Kununurra. He struggled at times to find the plate, walking 6, but the Pioneer hitters couldn’t find grass, the Blue Sox outfielders showing good range to snare several flies near the fence. Heading into the top of the 9th, no Kununurra batter had recorded a hit. Karsumaatmaja struck out Bob Lindner, the 1st opponent of the inning. Next up Ramon Martinez flied to out right-centre. John Foreman walked. And then Al Ayliffe struck out swinging.
No-hitter!!!! Karsumaatmaja struck out 7 and threw 122 pitches, and said afterwards, “I honestly had no idea. With the amount of walks I’d given up I kinda figured one of them was a hit. But hey, I think I might retire now. Probably can’t get better than this.” This was the 1st no-hitter since Cameron Worsfold’s postseason effort in 2056 and the 1st regular season no-hitter since 2055.
8 Oct: Ismael Aguirre was cutting a distinctively aging figure on the field in 2062. The 38 y/o showed he still had some pop left today, though, going 3-3 in Hobart’s 5-4 loss to Newcastle, including 2 solo HRs, 1 in the 3rd and the other in the 6th, one of 3 dingers in the inning. Those 2 blows gave Aguirre 692 career home runs.
9 Oct: Glen Donovan took home the season’s 1st PotW award. The Crocs’ 1B hit .444/.500/.926 over the last 7 days, his 12-17 including 1 double and 4HR.
11 Oct: After losing his 1st two starts of the year, ‘Mr. Dependable,’ John Zglinicki, was back to his usual high standards, restricting Canberra to just 2 hits and a walk, striking out 5, in helping Central Coast to an 8-0 win. The shutout was the 7th of Zglinicki’s big-league career. The 2 hits and walk he allowed came from the first 3 hitters he faced, after which he was lights out, retiring the next 26 hitters of the game (he got a double-play to end the 1st).
12 Oct: Auckland, tipped to be competing for the league’s worst record preseason, had started their campaign off hot. After losing their first 2, they’d now won 10 straight, getting to that mark with a tense 1-0 victory over Sydney. They scored the only run of the game in the top of the 1st and managed to hold Sydney scoreless for the following 9 innings. Sydney would break the streak the following night with a 7-2 victory.
16 Oct: Richard Moore turned 30 y/o the day before the season began, and while entering his 8th year in the majors certainly made him a veteran, it felt like he’d been around for longer than that. The Adelaide lynchpin took home PotW with an impressive .560/.593/.880 stat-line, 2 doubles and 2HR included in his 14 hits.
16 Oct: It took 16 innings to separate Hobart and Kununurra, the Prospects finally getting the win via a solo walk-off HR to 27 y/o rookie 2B Ethan Rafferty. The final score was 4-3.
18 Oct: In his 1st start of the year, Blair Norris had thrown 9 scoreless innings but missed out on a shutout as Kununurra needed extra-time to win it. Today against Hobart, Norris went 9 again, but this time there was no need for extra innings. Kununurra cruised to a 4-0 win, Norris conceding just 4 hits and 1 walk while fanning 9.
19 Oct: Brisbane went bonza against Perth, crushing them 22-5. DH Glen Casey had a night to remember, going 5-6, and Arturo Medina equalled a league record set in 2044, scoring 6 runs in a 4-5 night. 2 of those runs came via the longball, and he also hit a double and collected 3 ribbies. All in all, Brisbane managed 27 hits and 5 walks, with 7 hitters recording 3 or more hits for the night.
20 Oct: Ed Geoghegan had struggled mightily to start the season, hitting .161 before Darwin’s clash with Whangarei. While a 1-4 effort in a 4-2 loss was nothing to write home about, that 1 hit was a solo HR in the 9th. In turn, that HR was the 400th of Geoghegan’s 14+ year career. Geoghegan was 37 y/o but hoped he had a “couple more years left in the big-time."
20 Oct: Perth got revenge for their shellacking yesterday, but did so against Auckland, bullying the Metros 21-1. 3 batters got 4 hits, and Barry Dean had more than enough run support to record his 3rd win of the season. He threw 7.1 innings for 5 hits, 1 walks and 1 earned run, as well as striking out 8. He led the league in strikeouts, with 38, in FIP, with 1.87, in IP, with 36.2, and in WAR, with 1.7. He’d also started 5 games, currently 1 more than any other pitcher.
22 Oct: Newcastle were down near the bottom of most league-tracked stats. They were also losing a lot, today dropping their 10th in a row, Central Coast giving them a 13-3 hiding. Next day, they’d bounce back, pounding the Thunder 8-1.
23 Oct: 2059 #1 overall pick Domenic Cook had spent the last 2 seasons looking overmatched against big-league pitching, only hitting .201/.282/.299 in 405PA last season. The 26 y/o appeared to have finally grown into his potential in 2062, however, as was evidenced by his .448/.500/1.103 week. He won PotW, hitting a mammoth 6 dingers in the process.
24 Oct: Canberra were socking it to all-comers, today winning their 10th in a row with a 5-4 victory over Kununurra in the 1st game of a 4-game set. 5 of their 10 wins had been by a solitary run. The Pioneers would bust out to halt the march the following day, crushing the Cavalry 15-6.
30 Oct: Damian Krajancic took home PotW. The journeyman RF, playing for Christchurch this season, his 5th team in 5 years, hit .462/.444/1.077, with 4 doubles and 4HR dominating his 12 hits.
Notable Injuries
7 Oct: 24 y/o Whangarei 2B Greg Kent (.294/.368/.529, 1HR), who could field basically every position bar catcher with a high level of expertise, would miss the next 3-4 weeks with a herniated disc in his back.
10 Oct: The Prospects would have to do without Adrian Stuart (.333/.357/.333, 0HR) for the next month or so while he recuperated a sprained elbow.
18 Oct: Lance Fookes (.229/.267/.471, 4HR) would be missing from Christchurch’s lineup for some time as he dealt with a chronically sore back.
23 Oct: Luis Cesta (.258/.289/.473, 6HR) could face up to a month on the DL with a quad strain.
24 Oct: Canberra, another unfancied team currently at the top of their division, had been seeing some good performances from 24 y/o Norman Blume (2-1, 2.45 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 0.92 WHIP). Sadly, on the 21st Blume left the game injured and today the news was in: he needed a Tommy John and would likely be out of action for more than a year. Norman Blume was not to be confused with Norm Blume, the Brisbane 1B who led the league in RBI in 2061.
24 Oct: 22 y/o Cain Walley (.292/.364/.438, 1HR) looked set for a fruitful career. Darwin had called him up from AA in 2061 and he’d won the everyday CF role after a strong spring this season. He’d have to cool his heels for a little while now, though, with news that he’d fractured his hand after not dropping his wrists fast enough on an inside pitch. 6 weeks, at least, recovery time beckoned.
26 Oct: Tristan Agar (2-3, 3.75 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) and the Sluggers were dealt a blow, Agar set to miss nearly a year with a torn labrum.
26 Oct: Larry Booth (.354/.435/.394, 0HR), the league leader in steals with 13, had recurring back spasms. Nobody was quite sure of a return date, though the team trainer ventured a guess at “5-6 weeks, maybe. Hard to tell with this type of intermittent issue.”
31 Oct: 2061’s Rookie of the Year, Rodney Ellison (.247/.343/.333, 2HR), had a strained hammy and was expected to be on the DL for 5 weeks.
Notable Trades/Signings
6 Oct: 27 y/o Brent Dwyer (.412/.500/.824, 2HR in 2062, .252/.318/.437, 118HR career) inked his agreement to a 3-year extension with Cairns. Dwyer, a competent corner outfielder who typically chipped in with 25HR a year, would’ve been a free agent at season’s end.
6 Oct: 30 y/o Achaius Muljana (.326/.389/.525, 100HR) finally signed, agreeing to a 1-year deal with the Perth Sharks in the ABC. The 2060 and 2061 ABC Batting Champion was disappointed not to have cracked the AUNZBL, but said, “I’ll just have to put up good numbers again this season and force my way in.”
9 Oct: 24 y/o Gordon Ladds (.375/.423/.583, 1HR in 2062, .292/.396/.453, 41HR career) wasn’t the same force in the field as he had been during his rookie 2060 season. Still, he was now the guy Hobart built their offense around, and the Prospects were keen for him to stay in their uniform for a while yet. To that end they and he agreed to a 7-year extension which would buy out his remaining arbitration years and potentially keep him a Prospect for the 1st 4 years of his free agency.
Month Awards
Rookie of the Month: 26 y/o Baryai Venugopalan was Canberra’s everyday DH this season, and Cavalry management had plenty of confidence in the 6’0”, 104kg Wellington-born lad, having traded the guys ahead of him last year to make sure he had an open path to the role. He didn’t disappoint in October, hitting .293/.326/.472, 36-123, with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 5HR, 17 runs, 14RBI, and 6 walks.
Hurler of the Month: 24 y/o Song Liang was one of a bunch of Metros firing on all cylinders to begin the season. Highly rated by all who watched him, Liang’s 2 previous seasons in the rotation had been poor, both because of the bad team surrounding him and the fact he’d been forced to hone his craft in the offensive cauldron that was the AUNZBL. In October he looked like an ace, however, going 5-1 from 6 starts, with a 1.98 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 0.93 WHIP. He fanned 33 in 41 innings and led the league outright in wins.
Slugger of the Month: Rich Downes had been unlucky not to win RotY in 2060, and while last season had seen a dip in his production, he looked unstoppable to begin 2061. The Metros 1B hit .351/.387/.702 on his way to SotM, his 40-114 including 11 doubles, 1 triple and 9 home runs. He also scored 29 runs, drove in 32 runners, while walking 7 times. Surprisingly, he only led the league in 2 categories, extra-base hits (21), and total bases (80). At 26 years of age he rounded out a trio of young award winners, which excited the analysts and experts who were of the opinion this season ‘would establish a whole crop of new superstars - the guys whose careers you’ll be following closely for the next decade.’
Media Watch
Ismael Aguirre: While Marcos Lopez (.265/.328/.496, 7HR), 38 y/o like Aguirre, was giving the Blue Sox value, Aguirre was not doing much for the Prospects. He hit .222/.272/.342 during the month, his 2HR coming in 1 game. He still had some extra-base pop, hitting 8 doubles, but with an OPS+ of 60 he was certainly not helping lift a Hobart team who were dead last in plenty of offensive categories. He still needed 8HRs to reach 700, and even he admitted that “seems a long way off.” If he scored 38 more runs he’d be the 1st ever AUNZBL player to score 2000. He needed 34 more hits to get to 3700.
Lance Ralston: Ralston was still at least 2 months away from playing and 9 wins away from 200. In a candid interview with OotPB TV, Ralston admitted he might not reach that magic figure and if he did he’d have to do so with his off-speed stuff as his arm was “pretty buggered.”
Other Notes
Coastal Division: Cairns finished October on a 5-game tear, winning 21 in the month, to lead Adelaide by 2 and Darwin by 6. Perth were 9 behind, sputtering along like an overheating cartoon car.
East-West Division: Central Coast got off to a strong start, ahead of Kununurra by 3 and Brisbane by 4 heading into November. The Roos, at 11-18, didn’t have much bounce.
NZ Division: The surprise packet of the season so far, the Metros were tied for the 2nd-best record in the league and had a 4-game lead over their division rivals. Whangarei were the closest chaser, while Christchurch and Wellington were staggering along at the tail end of the division.
Southern Division: Canberra and Sydney were tied at the top, both 1 game over .500, while Hobart and Melbourne were tied at the bottom with the worst records in the league.
#
James Bacosa (.423/.444/.685, 6HR) was the only qualified hitter currently above .400. As well as leading the league in BA, the 26 y/o Slugger also topped the hits board, with 47, and the wOBA chart, with a .480 mark.
Canberra’s Neil Bellett (.343/.437/.706, 11HR) sat astride the HR, SLG, OPS, runs (30), ISO (.363), and WAR (2.1) boards. Bellett was either a singles or HR hitter, having hit just 4 doubles to go with his 11HR (from 35 hits) so far. He did have a very good eye, though, and was on track to walk 100 times for the season.
Ronald Aitken (.347/.500/.574, 5HR) led all-comers in OBP and walks (31). His skipper, Carlos Sosa, had only one complaint about his mild-mannered DH: “He’s just too modest. The man needs some swagger. He swaggers just a little bit more and he’d have cleared the fence another dozen times last season.” Aitken hit 26 homers in 2061, to go with a league-leading 54 doubles.
Bruno Budd (4-1, 1 sv, 1.91 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 0.85 WHIP) had been shifted into Adelaide’s bullpen after a complete game win on the 17th and had already made 5 appearances for 1 win, 1 loss and 1 save. While he’d surely fail to meet the qualifying criteria over the next month, he currently did and stood atop the ERA and WHIP boards.
Barry Dean (4-1, 3.78 ERA, 2.73 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) got touched up in his last start, but still managed to lead the league in strikeouts (52), innings pitched (50.0), and WAR (1.8). He’d also started a league-leading 7 games, tied with 2 other players.
Christchurch’s Jeremy Hofmann (2-2, 3.63 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.33 WHIP) led the league in FIP.
Victor Doubleday (3-1, 3.89 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.03 WHIP) had the best K/9 mark, his 44 strikeouts coming at a rate of 10.7 every 9 innings.
Wellington’s Alejandro Valentin (4-1, 4.11 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) had walked only 2 hitters in 35.0 innings while striking out 30, giving him a league-leading 15.00 K/BB rate and a 0.51 BB/9 mark.
Rod Bacon of the Diggers and Moeaktola Liao of the Metros were tied for the most saves, with 10 each.
ABC Wrap-up
Neither the Alice Springs Opals or the Jakarta Stars players seemed too bothered by the talk going on that the AUNZBL might be trying to tempt their organizations across the divide. Both teams led their divisions, the Opals ahead of Brisbane in the Northern by 1 game, and Jakarta winning 21 in October to lead the Overseas by 4.
Canberra and Melbourne were tied atop the Southern, with Sydney 2 games in arrears. Nobody in the Western was playing above .500, with Broome (13-18) the best of a bad bunch, ahead of Perth by 2. Even with the season just 1 month old, there was talk amongst ABC supporters of changing the playoff structure, with a lot of that carrying over from Sydney missing out last season despite winning 100 games.
36 y/o Julian Ramos (.363/.467/.657, 4HR) started his career in the BL as their #1 overall draft pick in 2047. In 2051 he’d migrated to the AUNZBL and played a platoon role for 2 teams across 2052-2056 before sinking back to the minors. The Metros had used him as a big-league bench bat/late-inning defensive sub in 2059 but he’d played all of 2060 in AAA. He’d then headed back to the BL for a season before his contract was purchased by Alice Springs. Ramos had already paid back their confidence in spades, leading the league in OBP, OPS, wOBA (.486), doubles (18), XBH (22), and WAR (2.3). For his efforts, he took out the monthly Golden Rookie Award and the Golden Bat Award.
Ex-AUNZBLer Caspar Green had been good without being great for the Broncos last season. He was sensational through October though, going 6-0 from 6 starts, his ERA 0.63, his FIP 2.39, and his WHIP 1.08. He struck out 43 in 42.2 innings and had an ERA+ of 645. Unsurprisingly, he won the month’s Golden Arm Award.
AUNZBL Standings, Nov 1