2062/2063 Season - March
Notable Performances
1 Mar: Angel Rivera went 0-5 in Darwin’s 6-5 loss to Whangarei, thus ending his hit streak at 22 games. Darwin tied the game in the top of the 9th, but Whangarei needed just 3 batters in the bottom of the inning to win via a walk-off single.
1 Mar: Christchurch’s Lance Fookes went 1-5, with 2 walks, in the Cowboys’ 14-inning 6-5 loss to Adelaide. That solitary hit gave him a 20-game hit streak, the 1st time in his 11+ year career that he’d reached that feat. Christchurch led the game until the bottom of the 9th, when 9-hitter Mitch Goddard hit a game-tying 2-run homer. Christchurch had opportunities to score in the top of the 11th and 14th but couldn’t bring anybody safely home. Adelaide, on the other hand, didn’t even manage a solitary extra-innings baserunner until the bottom of the 14th. Keiran Cooper led off with a single, was bunted to 2B, advanced to 3B on a nubbed ground-out, and then scored the winner off a wild pitch.
2 Mar: 26 y/o Baryai Venugopalan didn’t get that many headlines, probably because he played for a Canberra team with a below-average market size and no current superstars to attract coverage (Neil Bellett wasn't quite at superstar status yet, and some thought he didn't have the personality to ever get there). Venugopalan wasn’t doing too shabby in his 1st full-length season, though, having already gone deep 23 times. Today he became the latest player to hit in 20 consecutive games, going 1-5 in Canberra’s 7-6 win over Wellington.
2 Mar: In a game where Hobart used 17 position players and Brisbane 15 (such was March madness), it took until the bottom of the 14th for the 2 teams to be separated. Brisbane led 5-0 after 4 before Hobart stormed back with 4 in the 6th and took the lead with a 2-run 8th. Domenic Cook scored all the way from 1B off a Jay Watts single in the bottom of the 9th to lock the scores, and 5 innings later Brisbane put together a run of singles to walk off 7-6 winners. As well as using 17 position players, Hobart also sent 8 pitchers to the mound, and 1st-year skipper Rafael Kelly admitted after-match, “Yeah, there’ll be a few tired bodies tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
3 Mar: Fookes’ hit streak ended at 21 games. He went 0-4 in Christchurch’s 6-5 loss to Sydney.
4 Mar: Central Coast became the 1st pennant winner of 2062, clinching their division with an 8-2 win over Wellington. Reginald Reddick said the job wasn’t done yet for his charges, however: “We’ve got to stick to our bloody guns, mate, because we want that first round bye and right now we’re a bit off the pace.” Central Coast had an 85-59 record, while both Adelaide and Cairns had an 88-56 W-L.
5 Mar: James Bacosa took home PotW with a .556/.594/1.074 effort. His 15 hits included 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 3HR.
5 Mar: The Venom paralysed the Roos with a 19-0 thrashing. Greg Ahern threw 8.1 innings for just 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 8 in 121 pitches. “Yeah, I could’ve stayed in for the shutout,” he said, “but I guess Luis* wants to make sure I don’t get unnecessarily injured before the playoffs.” The Venom slugged 7 homeruns, including a pinch-hit Grand Slam by Norm Donaldson.
*Luis Gonzalez - Adelaide manager
6 Mar: Cairns defeated Brisbane 4-1, ensuring they would travel to the postseason, either as a wildcard or as a division champion. They were currently 1 game back from Adelaide.
6 Mar: The Venom were also guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, marking the occasion with a Robinson Saldana 3-hit shutout of Newcastle. The Roos went down 3-zip, Saldana walking 1 and fanning 5.
6 Mar: Venugopalan went deep for a 2-run walk-off HR to see Canberra get past Kununurra 9-7 in 10 innings. His hitting streak had now extended to 24 games.
6 Mar: Rod Bacon became the 2nd closer to 40 saves, though he could’ve been forgiven for thinking after 7 that he wouldn’t be needed. Perth led the Diggers 6-2 going into the bottom of the 8th before Darwin busted out an 11-man rally, scoring 6. Bacon hurriedly warmed up and came out for the top of the 9th. He walked a hitter and struck out 2 others, getting through the inning in 19 pitches. 8-6 victory to the Diggers.
8 Mar: Victor Doubleday became the 2nd pitcher past 200 strikeouts in 2062, fanning 7 in 7.0 innings in his side’s 5-4 win over Auckland.
8 Mar: The off day might’ve put Venugopalan off his stride, for his hit streak ended at 24 after he went 0-2, with a walk and a sacrifice bunt, in Canberra’s 9-6 loss to Brisbane. The Bandits scored 4 in the 8th to tie it up, 3 of those via a Jay Watts homer, and then walked off winners after Norm Blume blasted his 38th four-bagger of the season, worth 3 runs, in the 9th. Watts was only 12 games into his big-league career, but had already hit 6 doubles and 4HR in 21 hits.
9 Mar: Darwin dropped today’s fixture against Hobart 5-1 but were still celebrating into the night. Auckland had also lost, defeated 9-2 by Cairns, meaning it was now mathematically impossible for them to overtake the Diggers and snatch a wildcard spot. This would be Darwin’s 1st trip to the playoffs since 2057, which outing marked an end to a 7-year postseason streak.
9 Mar: In that 9-2 win over Auckland, Mario Correa cracked his 40th homerun of the season.
9 Mar: “A special day, a very special day,” Domenic Guerin said. “Of course, the season might’ve gone better, but I’ll still take this.” He collected 3 hits from 3 at-bats in Kununurra’s 16-14 victory over Central Coast. All 3 of those hits went out of the park. He went solo in the 1st, hit a 3-run shot in the 2nd, and soloed again in the 7th. He also walked 3 times, scoring 4 runs. John Foreman won the game for the Pioneers with a walk-off 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th after Central Coast had scored 4 in the 8th to level it up.
10 Mar: Sydney beat Adelaide 9-8 in 10 innings to win the Southern Division title, but that wasn’t the big talking point of the contest. Leading off, Martin Boston hit the 1st pitch of the game between 1B and 2B and reached 1B safely for the 2500th time of his career. But ‘Dinky’ wasn’t finished there. He went on to hit 5 more times, including driving in the go-ahead run with a double in the 10th. The 34 y/o was also a strong possibility to win a 5th Golden Glove, with a +15.0 ZR in LF. Not usually a self-promoter, Boston had a cheeky jibe for reporters after the game, “I think March 10th should be hereafter known as Boston Day, and be a State Holiday. Hell, why not a National Holiday?” This was the 7th time Boston had hit safely 5 or more times in a game. Interestingly, he brought up his 2000th hit in a 5-5 performance.
10 Mar: Roy Blake threw his 3rd shutout of the season, blanking Canberra on the back of 4 hits and 1 walk. He only struck out 1 hitter, but also only threw 89 pitches. Brisbane got home 1-0, Larry Booth scoring the game’s only run with a solo shot in the 5th.
11 Mar: Greg Ahern threw a complete game to help Adelaide defeat Sydney 5-3. He struck out 8, in so doing becoming the 3rd pitcher past 200 strikeouts.
11 Mar: Barry Dean negated his side’s poor offense by throwing a 1-hit shutout against Melbourne, Perth winning 4-0. Dean gave up his solitary hit in the 2nd so a no-hitter was never in question. He walked 1 and struck out 7 in his 4th career shutout.
11 Mar: 34 y/o Lance Fookes joined the career 300 club, going deep in Christchurch’s 9-6 win over Whangarei. Fookes had 28HR for the season.
12 Mar: Andre Wiltshire took out the penultimate PotW award, hitting .583/.643/1.375, 8 of his 14 hits going for extra bases (2 doubles, 1 triple, 5HR). After yesterday’s game he qualified for the batting leaderboards once again, and found himself at the top of the BA (.363), OBP (.425), OPS (1.005), and wOBA (.427) ladders.
12 Mar: Rich Steedman made it 35 saves without blowing one, throwing a scoreless 9th in Brisbane’s 8-7 win over Central Coast.
13 Mar: Norm Blume hit HR #40 in Brisbane’s 3-2 loss to Central Coast.
13 Mar: Newcastle trailed for 8 innings before rallying in the bottom of the 9th to score 3 and beat Kununurra 3-2. Kununurra catcher Rowan Kimpton sighed during the aftermatch presser and said, “Kinda sums up our season, doesn’t it?”
13 Mar: Cairns sank to a 9-2 loss at the hands of Darwin. Stephane Lecomte was 1-4 for the Crocs, and stole his 50th base of the season. Willem Throsby was the winning pitcher, throwing a 117-pitch complete game. He now had a 12-game win streak and an 18-start undefeated streak going.
15 Mar: Adrian Stuart helped the Prospects thrash the Aces 16-0 by going 5-5, with a double, a walk, 2 runs, and 4RBI. Melbourne could only manage 1 hit all game.
15 Mar: Another day, another heartbreaking loss for the Pioneers. Up 6-4 over Newcastle heading into the bottom of the 9th, they conspired to lose 9-6. Todd Fisher singled 2 runners in, before pinch-hitter Angus Wheeler sent ‘em home winners with a 3-run walk-off dinger.
16 Mar: Christchurch won the NZ Division for the 11th time in their history, clinching the pennant with a 6-2 victory over Hobart.
16 Mar: Moeaktola Liao saved game number 40 for the season, coming on in the 9th with a runner on 2B and a run just scored to close out the game for Newcastle. He got the remaining 2 outs to see the Roos beat Brisbane 4-1.
18 Mar: Xavier Culaham became the 4th player this season to hit for the cycle. He did so in Central Coast’s 14-4 humiliation of Auckland. The scoreline, however, didn’t tell the whole story. The game was tied at 4 after 9, and remained locked up until the 11th, when Central Coast went bananas, sending 13 hitters to the plate and scoring 10 runs. Culaham homered in the 1st, doubled in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, and tripled in that 10-run 10th.
18 Mar: Hit by minor injuries in his last couple starts, Ralston joked to press that he “might need a tow truck” to help him off the mound today. He didn’t, throwing 7 innings for the win in Christchurch’s 9-5 defeat of Hobart. He was responsible for all 5 of Hobart’s runs. 5-2 on the season with a 5.21 ERA and 4.80 FIP, but now just 4 wins shy of 200.
18 Mar: Darwin needed until the bottom of the 9th to shake off Canberra 6-5, though when Throsby came from the mound after 7 the Diggers were ahead 5-1. But while he didn’t get what would’ve been a well-deserved victory, he did extend his run of undefeated starts to 19, equalling the 6th-best streak of all-time.
19 Mar: The year’s last PotW award went to... Melbourne’s Caspar Purcell, who hit .524/.565/1.429, his 11-21 including 2 doubles, 1 triple and 5HR.
19 Mar: The Sluggers couldn’t wait until the season ended. They lost their 10th in a row today, sinking 11-2 to Adelaide. They only got on the scorecard in the 9th.
19 Mar: 4-time All Star Bailey Kinnear hit safely in his 20th straight game, going 1-4 in Sydney’s 10-3 bruising of Perth.
20 Mar: The final off day of the regular season saw all the postseason teams decided. Yet, there was still excitement in the Coastal Division, where Adelaide had managed to pull 1 game clear of Cairns, while Darwin lurked menacingly just 2 games adrift. While all 3 were assured of playoff berths, the 2 best teams in this division would get a 1st-round bye, and Darwin skipper Gavin Brigatti, for one, was “pretty keen on that idea.”
Darwin had a tough series in the Central Coast to close out their regular season, while Adelaide would head over to Kununurra, and Cairns to Christchurch for their respective matchups.
21 Mar: Hobart chilled Kinnear’s hot streak at 20 and upset the Blue Sox 7-4. Kinnear was 0-3 in the loss.
21 Mar: The Sluggers triumphed 3-2 over Perth to get back that winning feeling. Baskoro Subagja was the winning pitcher, fanning 10 in 7.0 innings while allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk and 0 runs.
21 Mar: Adelaide disposed of Kununurra 5-3 to remain 1 game clear atop the Coastal. All of the Pioneers’ runs came via the long ball, Nick Ahern hitting #34 for the year, Rowan Kimpton his 27th, and John Foreman #30.
21 Mar: Cairns and Christchurch tussled for 13 innings before Mario Correa, Brent Dwyer and Gary Baker combined to score 2 runs. Reliever Drew Hayes valiantly threw his 3rd inning of the game to close the Cowboys out. Final score: 4-2 Crocs. Cairns used 8 pitchers to the Cowboys’ 5.
21 Mar: Darwin saw their hopes of gaining a first-round bye slip a little further away, Central Coast defeating them 4-1. Isaac Canavan saved his 48th game of the season for the Thunder.
22 Mar: Barry Dean finished his season on a good note, throwing a complete game against Whangarei to help the Heat to a 7-1 win. He allowed 6 hits and only 1 walk, and struck out 13, his best match-tally of the campaign and the 6th time he’d struck out 10+ in 2062. “Yeah, I let a bit of my frustration out today,” he said. “Really went after guys, challenged them.” The run Dean allowed came in the 1st inning. Dean’s 2062 stat-line was 15-10, 3.42 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 1.17 WHIP. He was the only Perth starting pitcher to finish with a winning record, and moved to a career mark of 106-53 after 6 seasons.
22 Mar: Adelaide moved to 99-61 with an 11-7 win over the Pioneers. They’d looked down and out through 6, falling behind 7-0 before scoring 5 in the 7th to get back into contention. They levelled the game in the 9th and then piled on 4 runs in the 10th thanks to a pair of 2-run homers from Welch and Cong Pi.
22 Mar: Cairns refused to let Adelaide shake them. They defeated Christchurch 8-4 to remain just 1 game back.
22 Mar: Darwin reliever Brad Beaton wasn’t feeling so good after today’s 6-3 loss to Central Coast. Starter Zachariah Pond got into trouble in the 8th, allowing 2 baserunners, but picked up 2 outs along the way before getting spelled by Beaton. Beaton then gave up a triple, double and single to see 4 runs score and Central Coast snatch the lead. Canavan strolled out in the bottom of the 9th to record the easy save and equal the career high he’d set last season, of 49 saves. Could he become only the 3rd closer in AUNZBL history to save 50 games in a season? He had 2 fixtures left to etch his name in the record books.
23 Mar: Adelaide finally faltered, getting overrun by Kununurra 8-3.
23 Mar: Cairns, however, did not falter, winning an entertaining fixture against Christchurch 7-5. With 1 game to play, both Adelaide and Cairns were tied for the Coastal Division lead.
23 Mar: While the Diggers and Thunder wouldn't face off in the playoffs unless both teams made the Championship Series, Central Coast were certainly giving themselves confidence heading to the postseason dance. Their league-best pitching held strong to hold off Darwin 3-1. Canavan struck out 2 in the 9th inning, bringing up save number 50. “A bit tired,” he said when asked how he felt, “but if I get the chance tomorrow to go for 51, then I’m all in.” Willem Throsby took the loss, ending his winning and undefeated streaks at 12 and 19 respectively. “One more and I would’ve been tied for second all-time,” he lamented, “and while I’m only young, given the vagaries of life as a pitcher, I might not get another shot.” 25 y/o Throsby was in his 1st year full-time in Darwin’s rotation and would finish the regular season with a 16-8 record.
23 Mar: It was a dead rubber, the Blue Sox looking forward to postseason action, the Prospects to vacations spent licking wounds, but the fierce division rivals still weren’t giving each other an inch in the penultimate game of the season. Nobody scored through 9. Or through 10. In the top of the 11th, with 1 out, John Dalton launched a 3-1 Rory Karsumaatmaja fastball over right-centre. There was no doubt where it was going as soon as it was hit, but Dalton stood and watched it fly anyway. Then he started his lap of the bases... at a pace barely above walking. A couple of Blue Sox infielders exchanged words with him but he didn’t speed up. His opposite number, Jose Ojeda, jawed at him for a few moments before allowing him across home plate, to which Dalton responded by cupping his ear and laughing.
Adare Subadio was next up and the at-bat started normally enough. 2 balls, called strike, foul. Then Karsumaatmaja threw a fastball at his back. Intentional or not, Subadio wore it, uttered some expletives, threw his bat down and charged the mound. On the way he threw his helmet at Karsumaatmaja, but the throw sailed wide. Ojeda rushed out to protect his pitcher but an elbow to the chest from Subadio sent him sprawling unceremoniously on his backside. The brawl was brutal, Subadio suffering a cut to his cheek from a Karsumaatmaja punch, and several other players looking worse for wear afterwards.
“It’s been building all season,” Prospects 1B/OF Adrian Stuart said to media post-match. “They’ve spent every game disrespecting us, win or lose, and when we give them a taste of their own medicine they can’t handle it. If you give you’ve got to expect to get.”
The AUNZBL Commissioner didn’t share those views, handing both players 10-game suspension and issuing a strongly-worded statement about ‘stamping this aspect of the game out.’ Subadio said he wouldn’t appeal his suspension, but Sydney and Karsumaatmaja, predictably, planned to contest. Dalton escaped without any sactions, despite his inciting actions and the fact he was first out of the Prospects’ dugout to join the fray.
24 Mar: Adelaide put the hurt on Kununurra, punishing them 22-1. 6 of their 9 starting position players picked up 3+ hits, with Tomas Zartuche going 4-7. Welch went 3-5, hitting two 3-run homeruns.
24 Mar: Despite Adelaide’s display of strength, the Coastal Division would need an extra game to decide who’d take home the pennant. Clint Kline led the Crocs to a 4-2 victory over Christchurch, his 8 scoreless innings giving him a league-topping 19th win for the season.
24 Mar: Canavan didn’t have the opportunity to record save 51. The Thunder were behind all game against Darwin until scoring 2 in the 8th to tie it. Darwin went back ahead in the 10th by 2, and Central Coast could only manage an Aaron Gilleland solo HR in the bottom of the inning. 4-3 Diggers and they were happy to be heading to the postseason on a winning note.
25 Mar: Crocs skipper Carlos Sosa was uncharacteristically opinionated when talking to media before the extra game. “Look, I understand there needs to be a division winner,” he said, “but surely there are other ways of arriving at one. In this case, the extra game won’t affect either team, as we’ll both have a first-round bye, but I’d be upset if we didn’t have the bye and were giving our first-round opponents an extra day’s rest - a day which we didn't get."
Perhaps Sosa’s attitude rubbed off on his players because they were uniformly lethargic. Greg Ahern led the way for Adelaide, throwing 8.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing 7 hits and fanning 6. He left having thrown 105 pitches and watched his relief get the final out and keep the Crocs scoreless. Richard Moore slugged 2 homers for the Venom as they barely broke a sweat to win 5-0 and grab the 13th division title of their history.
Notable Injuries
3 Mar: Glen Donovan (.316/.358/.491, 19HR) joined Whangarei’s lengthy injury ward with chronic back soreness. While medical staff were reluctant to give a timeframe on his return, the likelihood was he wouldn’t be back this season.
6 Mar: Darwin would likely be without catcher Kent Okolita (.285/.402/.493, 24HR) for the 1st round of the playoffs. 29 y/o fan favourite Okolita had strained an oblique while running the bases. Okolita’s 5.5 WAR for the season had him in 4th place amongst all AUNZBL hitters.
7 Mar: Neil Bellett (.304/.406/.595, 42HR) wouldn’t be back this season thanks to a strained ribcage muscle. “Disappointed for sure,” he said. “I was giving 50 a good tilt, but I guess there’s always next year.” The Cavalry, although 2nd in the Southern, were 13 games behind Sydney and 12 games below .500.
9 Mar: Calvin Hodnett (.304/.390/.545, 28HR) didn’t admit it outright, but the impression was clear that the 28 y/o, who had been rubbed out for the remainder of the season with knee tendinitis, wasn’t too upset that he wouldn’t have to endure the last couple weeks of Perth’s miserable 2062 campaign. Currently the Heat were 66-81, with the 4th-worst record in the league.
10 Mar: Central Coast would be without SP Juan Moran (11-8, 3.95 ERA, 4.70 FIP, 1.18 WHIP) for the postseason. In fact, he probably wouldn’t be back in action until mid-October as he needed decompression surgery on the radial nerve in his elbow.
12 Mar: Rotator cuff inflammation meant Karl Blackwell (10-8, 3.31 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.14 WHIP) would play no further part in Melbourne’s season.
16 Mar: Maurice Clemens (.230/.339/.459, 36HR) finished the season with a biceps strain.
19 Mar: Wrist tendinitis would keep Gordon Ladds (.289/.390/.494, 24HR) out of Hobart’s lineup for the last series of the season.
23 Mar: Adelaide had only just got Malcolm Pickhills (.275/.384/.579, 29HR from 426PA) back from injury, but were set to lose him again, this time with a sprained elbow. The really bad news? It was very doubtful he’d play any part in their playoff campaign.
Notable Trades/Signings
11 Mar: Darwin extended 27 y/o LHP pitcher Allan Tipping (13-9, 3.56 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) for 3 years, thus buying out the rest of his arbitration.
24 Mar: On the last day of the season, Whangarei and Brisbane pushed through a waiver wire trade, one that seemed, at least to the OotPB TV analysts, “weird.” 34 y/o Armando Santos (.211/.276/.434, 26HR) would suit up for Brisbane for the last game of the season, while Whangarei would get 27 y/o rookie March call-up Nigel Wedemeyer and a 23 y/o prospect. Brisbane were the team who signed Santos from the NABA in 2058 on a 6-year deal, which deal still had 1 year to play out. Before being traded to Whangarei, Santos had spent most of the 2059 season in AAA, where he crushed 51HR. He had 122 major-league dingers, 102 of those in a Whangarei uniform.
Media Watch
Marcos Lopez: The now 39 y/o finished the season with a 2-4 performance against Hobart, including a 3-run HR in the 1st inning. That bomb gave him 30 for the season and 435 for his career. “I still feel in fine fettle,” he said after the game when discussing his future. He had another year on his contract, the vesting option of 135 games having kicked in. Lopez had played all 162 games of the season, the 1st time he’d done so since 2059. He hit .298/.349/.499 for the year, collecting 194 hits. He needed just 62 more to join the elite 3000-club.
Duarte Vasche: The 45 y/o didn’t just warm the pine in March. He made 2 relief appearances, throwing 5.1 innings in 2 losing efforts. Sadly, it was clear that he no longer belonged at this level, his FIP across those 5.1 innings over 8.
Jayden Pye: A free agent once the postseason concluded, Pye apparently didn't have any plans going forward. “I’ve had a really enjoyable season,” he said, “and I just want to hold that feeling for a little while longer. Pye started 120 games in 2062, and appeared in 129 total for 546PA, his highest number of plate appearances since 2057. He hit .283/.379/.489, with 26HR. That was the best full season OPS of his career, and he hadn’t hit more HRs since 2054. What did he credit as the reason behind his great season? “Age. Well, wisdom, more so. It’s taken me this long to figure out that there’s nothing wrong with staying a while at the plate.” Pye had always been a relatively patient hitter but it did appear that aspect of his hitting craft was continuing to improve as he aged. Pye had just shy of 17 years major-league service time and a career stat-line of .263/.353/.453, with 341 career four-baggers.
Other Notes
Jayden Downes (.360/.382/.438, 4HR) took home the batting crown, but only drew 17 walks in 539PA. Still, the 32 y/o would have given himself decent value heading into free agency.
3 players finished the season tied on 42 home runs. They were:
Neil Bellett (.304/.406/.595, 42HR)
Norm Blume (.297/.364/.551, 42HR)
Mario Correa (.304/.342/.574, 42HR)
Bellett also led the league in SLG, OPS, wOBA (.420), and ISO (.292).
Blume topped the AUNZBL in RBI (149), XBH (81 - tied), TB (358).
Correa accumulated the highest WAR of any hitter in 2062, with a 6.1 mark.
Tied with Blume for most extra-base hits was Fei-hsien Chang (.263/.310/.492, 32HR), who hit 47 doubles, 4 more than anybody else.
Richard Moore (.331/.432/.533, 32HR) led the league in OBP.
He also achieved the runs-walks double-double (120-117). The only other player to do this was Ronald Aitken (.298/.420/.540, 36HR, 115 runs, 117 walks). Both Moore and Aitken were tied for most free passes in the league.
Tomas Zartuche (.346/.387/.483, 12HR) led the league in hits for the 2nd season running, collecting 227. He also led the league in runs scored (122), and triples (14).
5 other players reached the 200 hits milestone:
Angel Rivera (.328/.359/.496, 15HR, 222 hits)
Rich Downes (.326/.382/.545, 32HR, 213 hits)
Richard Moore (206 hits)
Edgardo Rico (.348/.388/.443, 5HR, 203 hits)
Yoshihito Morimoto (.298/.334/.363, 1HR, 201 hits)
Stephane Lecomte (.277/.339/.357, 4HR) was the only player to steal 50 bases. He finished with 51.
Clint Kline (19-5, 2.82 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) had made a good case for a 2nd HotY award. He finished the season atop the ERA, wins, BB/9 (1.05), and K/BB (6.04) boards, and was also 2nd in WHIP, 3rd in FIP, and 2nd in WAR (6.0).
For the 2nd season running, nobody came close to Barry Dean (15-10, 3.42 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) in the WAR stakes (9.0). Dean led the AUNZBL in WAR, FIP, strikeouts (237), and innings pitched (245.0). Could he win HotY with his stats? 2051 HotY Wilson Lara didn’t think so. “Look,” he said, “if it was judged purely on peripherals - WAR, FIP, even strikeouts - than he’d be a shoe-in. There was no better pitcher in the league than Dean this season, especially so when you look at the team he played on. But wins is still a pretty big deal. I’m not saying it should be, but it’s a sexy stat and one that a casual baseball fan can glance at and assess performances and worth to a team. So no, I don’t think he’ll get the gong. He might get on the podium, but that’s no given either.”
2 other players made it past 200 strikeouts in 2062:
Greg Ahern (18-10, 3.48 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 226 strikeouts)
Victor Doubleday (15-12, 4.54 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.28 WHIP, 223 strikeouts)
Doubleday also finished with the best K/9 rate among qualified pitchers (9.38). He was the only qualified pitcher to be striking out more than a batter an inning.
Isaac Canavan (5-6, 50 sv) became just the 3rd player in AUNZBL history to reach the 50 save mark, and the 1st since 2036 when Ian Naismith set the record with 51. Canavan had saved 49 games in 2060, and was now, with Sean Morrow, the only player to reach that mark or higher twice. Despite putting together 99 saves across those 2 seasons, 30 y/o Canavan was still 3 shy of 200 career saves.
Brisbane closer Rich Steedman (4-5, 39 sv) didn't blow a save the entire season. If he saved his next 13 attempts in 2063 he'd find himself on the all-time saves streak leaderboard.
League ERA finished at the same mark as 2061 (4.66). League BA reached an all-time high of .272.
ABC Wrap-up
The ABC regular season still had 2 days to play before postseason festivities kicked off. 3 of the 4 playoff teams were already decided, Melbourne representing the Southern Division, Perth the Western, and Jakarta the Overseas. Brisbane and Alice Springs were still brawling in the Northern, and were playing in each other in the final series of the season to make things even more interesting. Alice Springs had won the 1st game of their set, and were on a 6-game winning streak, while Brisbane had lost their last 3 to see their lead cut to 1 game.
Satya Susanti didn’t become the 1st ABC pitcher to 20 wins. He severely sprained his ankle near the end of February, rubbing him out for the season. He also wouldn’t be available for Melbourne in the playoffs either. However, the 20-win barrier was broken in 2062, by former AUNZBL pitcher Bradley Boston. Boston had snared 19 wins in 2061, and went 1 better in 2062, with a 20-11 record. Sadly, his team, the Sydney Highlife, despite winning 97 games with 2 to play, wouldn’t feature in the postseason.
Si-xun Qiao (.272/.361/.559, 47HR) looked set to fall short of 50HR.
AUNZBL Standings, EORS