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

Izz · 02-08-2018, 03:08 AM

2064/2065 Season - December

2064 #1 Draft Pick

19 y/o high school baller Warren Collard had the distinction of being this season's number 1 overall draft pick. Collard hit .505 against high school competition and while he’d patrolled the outfield corners for his team, Canberra wanted to train him as a 3B. He projected to have good power, both over the fence and into the gaps. He was noted as an extremely loyal young man who had a decent work ethic and barely took a day off sick.

However, one anonymous source from his former school said, “Warren’s a gifted athlete, for sure, but he has some learning disabilities that were never properly treated due to his athletic prowess. Put it this way: hopefully his coaches stick to visual tutelage rather than giving him anything to read.”

Canberra assigned Collard to their rookie league team, the Nelson Bay Pelicans.

A quick look at how the previous 4 #1 draft picks were doing:

2063, Vinnie Hanscombe: Rated the #17 prospect in the league by OotPB TV prior to the season beginning, Hanscombe was dominating double-A with a stat-line of .329/.407/.429. Last season he’d recorded two 5+ hit games in single-A and plenty thought he’d earn a March call-up, at least, to the Aces this year.

2062, Brendan Penfold: Won a spot in the Canberra rotation this season, and they currently ranked him as their second starter. He’d had his struggles, his ERA+ through 12 starts 91. He had 5 wins and 5 losses, a 4.74 ERA, a 4.23 FIP, and a 1.79 WHIP. Still, he’d struck out 51 from 62.2 innings and his pitching coaches said he still had “mountains of room for improvement,” both in his individual pitches and his control of them. He’d been ranked the league’s #5 prospect prior to the season.

2061, Axel Zhou: Currently injured, Zhou was proving an important cog in Auckland’s lineup when fit. He’d hit .300/.333/.445, with 5HR, in 211PA. He’d missed the entire 2063 season due to an injury suffered during spring training but he’d didn’t appear hampered by any ill aftereffects.

2060, Richard Page: Playing behind Kent Okolita would always be a tough ask, but Page did appear to be lagging. Last year he hit less than .200 in 114 plate appearances across 45 games. This season his stat-line was .214/.283/.286, with 0HR, from a measly 46PA. “He’s 25 years old now,” a source within the organization lamented, “but he's shown little improvement in selecting which pitches to swing at and therefore a lot of his contact is weak.”

Notable Performances

1 Dec: Player of the Week went to Newcastle’s Nathan Kapuna. He hit .586/.636/1.034, his 17 hits including 4 doubles and 3 homers. 26 y/o Kapuna would qualify for free agency at the end of this season.

2 Dec: Justin Auger leaped to the top of the RBI boards with his fourth Grand Slam of the season in Central Coast’s 9-1 defeat of Newcastle. The Slammer was his 7th of this calendar year. For his career ‘Crazy Eyes’ had 24 major-league Grand Slams, though he’d not managed a walk-off one yet.

2 Dec: Wellington forced their game against Cairns to extra innings thanks to a 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th. The score remained tied at 5 until the top of the 12th when Chi-seong Lee blasted a 2-out 3-run dinger. The Fury led off the bottom of the inning with a walk but put up no further resistance, falling 8-5.

3 Dec: Both teams committed 3 errors but the contest was still a gripping one, Kununurra heading into the bottom of the 9th holding onto a 1-run lead thanks to a pair of 3-run innings in the 6th and 7th. They’d outhit Auckland 14-7 at that point but the hometown fans weren’t counting the Metros out of it just yet. Their confidence proved to be well-founded. Rodney Trembath led the inning off with a single before Chuk-yan Lung launched a 2-1 fastball deep to right. It kept on going and he got to touch ‘em all with a 2-run walk-off homer. Final score: 7-6 Auckland as they fought to maintain a tenuous advantage in the NZ.

4 Dec: Christchurch looked like they had this one well in hand, their lead 4 heading into the bottom of the 9th. However, their recently erratic bullpen (primarily Scott Carson in this case) conspired to let the Sluggers back into the contest, Tim Firth tying the game with a 2-out 3-run homer. Christchurch managed 2 baserunners in the 11th but that was all the extra-innings threat they offered. Glen Donovan did the honours for Whangarei in the bottom of the 12th, crushing a Canavan heater 441 feet over dead centre for a walk-off winner. 7-6 Whangarei.

4 Dec: A pair of solo homeruns did the deed for Brisbane in the bottom of the 9th in their clash with Melbourne. The Aces had snuck ahead by 1 in the top of the inning and looked like winning it when a bottom of the inning double-play snuffed out a baserunner and left them just 1 dismissal short of victory. But then Norm Blume put a 3-1 fastball into the seats to tie it up. This was followed by Tashiaki Yano crunching an 0-1 curveball deep over centrefield for his second bomb of the night. Walk-off 8-7 Brisbane win, Melbourne’s Oliwa Lomu's blown save his first of the season.

8 Dec: Newcastle 1B Todd Fisher won PotW, hitting .500/.500/.923.

9 Dec: It took 13 innings to separate Brisbane and Perth, the Bandits doing the dirty in the top of the 13th via a sacrifice fly. Earlier, Perth had equalized in the bottom of the 9th to prolong matters but in the end couldn’t avoid crashing to their 41st defeat of the season. Brisbane’s Terence Stuart rapped 4 singles from 6 at-bats.

10 Dec: Claudio Banda was magnificent in blanking the Roos on the back of 6 hits and 0 walks. He only struck out 2 but got through the game in 93 pitches, Newcastle skipper Andre Allan scratching his head after the game and saying, “Yeah, he got through his work quickly, all right. Suddenly I looked up at the scoreboard and it was the 8th and I could’ve sworn it was still the 5th. It wasn’t just a low pitch-count, either. His reset and pitch-picking processes are very quick. Next time we face him I’ll have to remind our hitters to slow things down a bit and put him off his rhythm.” Banda’s Crocs didn’t make it easy for their pitcher, either, not getting on the board until the bottom of the 6th and committing a couple of errors. The final score was 2-0 to Cairns.

10 Dec: Adelaide came from behind to tie the game in the 6th inning of their clash against Sydney. That was all the scoring until the bottom of the 12th. Andrew Benbow led off the inning with a walk, was bunted into scoring position and an out later scored off a Mitch Goddard single. 5-4 Adelaide, their 38-28 record only good enough for second in the Coastal.

10 Dec: Canberra piled on 20 hits to dispose of Darwin 12-5. Jay Watts and Jorge Perez both went 4-5. Despite the hit parade no Cavalry batter went downtown. By contrast, 2 Diggers hitters cleared the fences, out of only 5 hits.

11 Dec: Matthew Utting provided some big bang in Christchurch’s 9-1 defeat of Cairns. The burly 3B went 4-4, 3 of those hits traveling out of the park. He went deep in the 4th over right, hit a monster 435-foot jack over right-centre in the 6th, and led off the 8th with a first-pitch bomb over right. This was the second time in his big-league career that Utting had hit 3 homers in a game. Barry Dean went the whole 9 for the Cowboys, looking at a shutout until, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Calvin Hodnett pulled a 2-0 pitch into the bleachers for a solo homer. Dean was throwing a few tater balls this season, having given up homeruns in each of his last 5 starts. In fact, in his 14 starts so far, he’d only gone 3 without having to crick his neck to watch a fly clear the fences.

11 Dec: Up 3-0 heading into the bottom of the 9th, Wellington must’ve felt somewhat comfortable. The first out came easily enough, a regulation ground-ball to the shortstop. Then Matt Cusack nudged one down the 1B line for a single. 2 pitches later Rupert Bethune got a fastball to drive and mashed it 439 feet over straightaway centre to make it a 1-run game. Pete Mulholland doubled over the head of the 3B. Vincent Howell flied out and Wellington needed just 1 more out to hold on. Closer Ronald Cornell fell behind Andy Davies 2 and 0. The 2-0 pitch was up in the zone and Davies drilled it into the right-field alley. RBI-double and the game was tied. New pitcher. Larry Booth struck out swinging to send this into extras. Wellington started a 2-out rally in the top of the 10th, getting runners to 2B and 3B but that was where they stayed. Brisbane juiced the bases with 1 away in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a hit batter, a pop-up double and an intentional walk. An out later Pete Mulholland drew a walk-off walk to give the Bandits an improbable 4-3 victory. Skipper Timothy Donaldson said in the after-match presser, “It’s wins like these, the ones we probably didn’t deserve, that will really count when we’re tallying up at the end of the season.”

11 Dec: Central Coast and Kununurra also went 10 innings in their matchup, though this game was never one-way traffic. The Thunder went ahead by 4 after 4 but Kununurra had tied it back up by the end of the 6th. The Thunder pushed their way in front in the 7th by 1 and added 2 more in the 9th. Kununurra tied the game in the bottom of the inning without recording an out thanks to a 3-run Rhett Allan jack. Come the bottom of the 10th and Al Ayliffe delivered the walk-off magic via a 2-run homer. 9-7 Kununurra. That hit was the twelfth walk-off hit of Ayliffe’s major-league career, and his ninth walk-off homerun.

12 Dec: Justin Auger touched ‘em all for the fourth game in a row, providing all the scoring in Central Coast’s 5-2 loss to Kununurra.

13 Dec: Central Coast dropped their third in a row against Kununurra, getting belted 8-3. Auger could only single to end his HR streak at 4.

13 Dec: Victor Doubleday got OotPB TV’s #1 performance of the day with a 9.1 inning outing against Christchurch. The only run he gave up was a homer in the 5th to Maurice Clemens, Miguel Ibanez having also hit a solo homerun in the top of the inning. Fast-forward to the top of the 10th and Cairns piled on 4 runs, 3 of those via a Mario Correa jack, to jump ahead 5-1. Doubleday threw 1 pitch in the bottom of the inning, inducing a pop-out to the shortstop before being replaced. Sterling Boston battled through the next 2 hitters but got them both out to ensure a Cairns’ victory. Doubleday allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk in his 9.1 innings, fanning 10. He had a league-leading 11 wins for the season.

14 Dec: Melbourne romped to a 10-0 victory over Newcastle. Karl Blackwell was the star of the show, throwing a 6-hit, 0-walk, 3-strikeout shutout. The shutout was his second of the season. After winning October Hurler of the Month, Blackwell had gone 1-5 in November and was now 1-1 after 3 starts in December. 36 y/o journeyman catcher Mi-yuan Bargenquat went 4-4 in the victory, with a walk, 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 4RBI.

15 Dec: Young Tim Firth won PotW. The dashing 24 y/o hit .417/.440/1.042, his 10 hits including 3 doubles and 4 homeruns.

15 Dec: It took 14 innings for the Roos to prevail over the Fury 6-3. 24 y/o Nicholas Bennett was the talk of the town after the game, having gone 6-7, with 3 runs and 2RBI. Not only did he safely hit 6 times, he also cycled. He hit singles in the 1st, 9th, and 12th, a homerun in the 5th, a double in the 7th, and a triple in the 14th. That triple gave Newcastle the go-ahead run. A pitch later Hektor Knittle blasted a 2-run homer to give the Roos insurance. Baby-faced Bennett only shrugged after the game and said, “Well, I had enough chances at it, didn’t I? It’s not often a guy gets so many at-bats in one game.”

15 Dec: Christchurch dropped their fourth straight to fall 3 games below .500, Melbourne edging past them 8-7. Marcos Lopez had just 1 hit in the game, a 7th-inning RBI single. That hit, however, moved Lopez to third-outright on the all-time hits leaderboard ahead of Ashley Snijders. Lopez now had 3187 hits. He needed only 36 more to surpass Alastair Mildren in second spot.

15 Dec: Justin Auger dished his eighteenth and nineteenth homers of the season in Central Coast’s 6-4 win over Hobart. The first was a 3-run affair in the 1st, while the second was a 2-run walk-off blast in the bottom of the 9th. The shots leapfrogged Auger to the top of the season homerun board.

15 Dec: There was also walk-off homerun magic in the Cairns-Kununurra clash. With the scores locked at 3 in the 10th, the Pioneers scored the go-ahead run thanks to a throwing error. Miguel Ibanez wasn’t going to let that put him off his stride, however. After Peter Moy walked to lead off the bottom of the inning, Ibanez stroked a fly into the left-centre stands for a 2-run walk-off dinger.

18 Dec: Yoshihito Morimoto scored a run in Central Coast’s extra-innings 4-3 walk-off win against Hobart, giving him a 10-game run-scoring streak. He went 3-5 across the game. Richard Humphrey got the winner for the Thunder, bashing a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 11th.

21 Dec: In a game bereft of offense, Auckland’s John Foreman still managed to deliver a highlight reel moment. Perth had gone ahead in the 5th by 1 and looked certain to edge out a tight one, Auckland only able to muster 2 hits through 8 innings. That all changed rather quickly in the bottom of the 9th. Cam Kline led off with a single and was bunted into scoring position. Callum McCabe fouled off several before hitting a single wide of 2B. Kline held up at 3B and Foreman strode to the plate. One pitch later it was all over, the league HR leader adding another to his total with a 417-foot blast over left-centre. 3-run walk-off effort, the Aces stealing a 3-1 victory.

22 Dec: Hektor Knittle had taken to Newcastle (see Notable Trades/Signings below) like a fish to water. He bashed his way to PotW by hitting .520/.556/.920, with 3 homers. In the 9 games he’d played since the trade he’d hit .462/.512/.872, with 5 dingers.

22 Dec: Central Coast and Adelaide had jousted a fair amount over the previous few seasons, with their rivalry played up in the media at every opportunity. They delivered on that rivalry in today’s game, Adelaide ahead 5-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th only for Yin-ti Zhuo to club a Grand Slam to tie things up. Neither team was able to break the deadlock until the top of the 13th. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 away, Malcolm Pickhills doubled Li Hayes home to push Adelaide back ahead. Quentin Welch followed up with a walk and the bases were loaded. Norm Donaldson made sure the Venom got maximum benefit, sending a 1-2 curveball into the left-centre bleachers. Grand Slam and Central Coast were broken, quickly surrendering in the bottom of the frame, Adelaide 10-5 winners.

28 Dec: Brisbane treated Sydney’s pitchers with contempt, racking up 22 base hits in their 11-1 victory. Norm Blume went 4-6 with a double and HR while Brendon Marris was 4-4, all singles, with a walk.

29 Dec: He mightn’t have made the All Star team due to injury curtailing his game time but Beau Hauer stood out in the 4 other games played during the week, hitting .467/.529/1.000, with 2 homers, to win his second PotW for the season.

29 Dec: Kununurra were upset 9-4 by Wellington. For the Pioneers, Ramon Martinez went 1-3, with a walk and 2 ribbies. The hit was a homerun in the 6th, giving him a 4-game homerun streak, equalling the best mark of the season so far.

30 Dec: Martinez couldn’t clear the fences as Kununurra reversed yesterday’s result with their own 9-4 win over the Fury. He did nearly make it 5 games in a row with a deep double off the RF wall in the 8th to cap off a 2-5 night.

30 Dec: It was a game for the purists. Auckland and Canberra couldn’t break a nil-all deadlock until the bottom of the 10th when, with 1 out, the Cavalry went single, single, intentional walk, walk-off single to emerge victorious. Auckland ace Domenic Jones went 7.2 innings, giving up only 2 hits and 3 walks, but ended up on the losing side.

Notable Injuries

2 Dec: Hobart lost Ignacio Maldonado (.261/.406/.383, 3HR from 143PA) to the DL for the second time in the season. He’d strained an abdominal muscle and faced 5-6 weeks on the sidelines.

2 Dec: Nathan Kapuna (.258/.322/.434, 9HR) had a sprained elbow. 5-6 weeks on the DL for him, too.

7 Dec: Wellington added another to their growing injury ward. Zachary Quinn (4-5, 4.04 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.34 WHIP) had recurring back spasms. “Injury like this, it’s always hard to estimate recovery time,” the team doctor said when asked. “But I figure a good 6 weeks at least.”

9 Dec: Wendell Chatfield (7-3, 2.81 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) faced 2-3 months out with an elbow strain.

9 Dec: Christchurch looked set to lose Pedro Montanez (4-7, 4.89 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 1.48 WHIP) until at least early March with ulnar nerve irritation.

11 Dec: Gary Young (.282/.343/.471, 10HR) was well acquainted with the frustration of being on the DL, his career injury list making for long reading. This time it was a fractured thumb - an injury he’d also suffered in 2048, the year he made his big-league debut - and the estimated recovery time was 6 weeks.

13 Dec: Sydney had already been without Lachlan Limeburner (.223/.284/.511, 8HR from 102PA) for a chunk of the season after he tore his hamstring at the end of October. Now he was done for the campaign thanks to a fractured ankle.

15 Dec: Cairns needed to make-do without Mario Correa (.304/.343/.552, 16HR) for the next 3 or so weeks. He had an oblique strain.

17 Dec: Jay Watts (.342/.408/.476, 7HR) would miss 3-4 weeks with a hamstring strain. Watts had the third-best BA in the league at the time of his injury.

17 Dec: Central Coast’s Zach Merritt (5-5, 4.64 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.18 WHIP) was gone for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff.

19 Dec: Mitchell Cox (.290/.361/.465, 6HR) joined Canberra’s overflowing injury ward. His fractured finger would take around a month to heal.

20 Dec: And another one bites the dust. 39 y/o Ivan Parker (2-2, 15 sv, 2.61 ERA), who Canberra had been using at closer before elevating to the rotation to cover injuries, was gone-burger for the season. He had a torn rotator cuff, which would be tough to rehab at his age.

22 Dec: Jack of all trades Bagaskoro Maryadi (.331/.397/.517, 5HR from 133PA), who was doing an admirable job off the bench for Kununurra, would spend the next 5-6 weeks warming his couch while he recovered from an intercostal strain.

22 Dec: Jesus Vega (.264/.392/.409, 8HR) had shoulder tendinitis. Hobart would be without his services for at least 6 weeks.

24 Dec: Leo Walena (.273/.335/.386, 7HR) was only 22 y/o but already into his third AUNZBL season. The Auckland 3B had torn the meniscus in his knee and would be out for a month.

Notable Trades/Signings

2 Dec: Jack Binns (3-6, 4.39 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.19 WHIP in 2064; 75-72, 4.47 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) was one of those pitchers whose underlying stats showed a much better performer than his W-L and ERA did. Noted as an extremely diligent trainer who always made time for the fans, Binns was one of the Blue Sox’s most beloved players, his image regularly on the local celebrity gossip shows.

Binns could’ve made it in the bigs as a hitter if he so chose, according to the team’s batting coach, who said, “He regularly puts them out of the park in practice. He’s just a natural.” However, pitching was his chosen trade, the 29 y/o stating he had no desire to “do a Welch*.”

The Blue Sox today announced, much to the delight of the fans, that Binns had agreed to a 4-year extension, the final season a player option.

*Quentin Welch - who’d made the switch from major-league starting pitcher to major-league starting hitter as a 24 y/o

3 Dec: Christchurch negotiated a deal with 30 y/o Edward Vance (3-3, 5.02 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.62 WHIP in 2064 through 6 starts; 50-29, 4.12 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.32 WHIP career) to buy out his remaining arbitration years and the first year of free agency. The 4-year deal was, according to Vance’s manager, “in the club’s favour but acceptable to both parties.” Despite having won 18 games in 2062 and 19 in 2063 Vance was currently only Christchurch’s fifth-choice starter.

9 Dec: Cairns and Perth engaged in another trade, the Crocs lightening their outfield load by sending 30 y/o LF Jose de la Cruz (.260/.353/.331, 2HR in 2064; .282/.394/.370, 6HR since debut last season) and cash to the Heat in exchange for 29 y/o 2B Angus Beckett (.273/.321/.305, 0HR in 2064; .281/.320/.379, 8HR career) and a pitching prospect.

Sneddon was critical of this deal also. “Again, I don’t get it. Okay, I guess Cairns are shedding a bit of salary but I’m having to dig to find even that as a positive. Yes, the Crocs have been playing Ahern at 2B the last week or so but that’s not because they have no options, that’s because of poor roster management. They sent Jarod Boxsell down to AAA at the end of last month. Struggling offensively, definitely, but more than capable of playing good defense at 2B and a guy who’ll only get better the longer he spends in the majors. Beckett’s a cheap option, true, and he hit .280 last season but he doesn’t have great range at 2B and has a weak arm and is just going to spoil what was a pretty well-balanced lineup. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a talking head who’s never run a ball club.”

10 Dec: “Hey,” Sneddon told those watching at the beginning of his show, “do you fancy having your very own baseball-player-slash-butler? If so, give Perth GM Giralldo Ulrich a call. He seems on a mission to finish the calendar year with a totally different roster to that which he started the year with and he’s open to all offers. I’ve heard he likes moon-dust. Offer some of that, and I bet Sasaki* could be all yours.”

In truth, while it did seem that Perth were having a fire-sale, today’s trade was slightly more nuanced than first appeared. Perth sent 25 y/o C/DH Hektor Knittle (.232/.305/.333, 3HR from 187 PA) to Newcastle in exchange for 28 y/o LHP Ashley Lightfoot (4-0, 2 sv, 3.04 ERA from 23 relief appearances) and a 20 y/o pitching prospect.

Heat fans were understandably upset at losing Knittle, with the German-born catcher looking at last like he had grown into the enormous power potential that saw him make the top prospects list from 2060-2063, debuting at #29 and moving right up to #7 prior to the 2063 season, even if most of his good swings this year were currently going into outfielders’ gloves. In return, Perth got a serviceable bullpen arm that their new skipper thought might be closer material (not that he had much else to work with)...

...And the number 4 overall pick from last year’s draft, 20 y/o Cooper ‘Nine Fingers’ Dempsey. Dempsey, the scouts said, could be Barry Dean-like in a couple seasons, with a fastball that would be hard to rival. For now, though, he’d head off to short-A.

Maybe in a couple seasons Perth fans might have something to be happy about.

*Tadakuni Sasaki, Perth’s everyday catcher

19 Dec: Adelaide sent 26 y/o Mitch Goddard (.315/.343/.474, 11HR) off to Canberra in exchange for 31 y/o RF Danny Caporn (.304/.347/.503, 7HR from 174PA) and a 23 y/o SS who was decent defensively but would only ever be a singles hitter.

Sneddon’s take? “Adelaide obviously think Caporn will help them win this year. He’s a free agent at the end of the season and I can’t see the Venom offering him an extension. He’s a sharp outfielder, especially in right, has good speed and is always a threat to steal. He also looks to be on a bit of a contract drive, so Adelaide could well get some value.

“I feel sorry for Goddard. Came up through the Venom system, making a good fist of the DH role but now shunted off to the Cavalry, who aren’t out of contention in the Southern but everybody knows they’re not real contenders, especially with the amount of guys they have injured. Still, he’s a good get for Canberra. He’s under club control for a while yet and he’s a good guy to have around the place. Once Bellett and Watts are back he’ll extend their lineup nicely.”

30 Dec: “And, yet again,” Sneddon told his viewers, “I’ve got egg on my face.” Why? Sneddon had been sure Adelaide’s move to acquire 31 y/o Danny Caporn from Canberra was solely to help them this year. Adelaide GM Santiago Rodriguez obviously felt differently. He fronted the press today to tell them that Caporn had agreed to a 4-year extension.

“Absolutely stoked,” was Caporn’s reaction. “To be wanted by the best club in the game is a real honour.” Since coming across, Caporn had hit .400/.419/.667, with 2HR, from 7 games.

2064 All Stars

The major talking point leading up to the naming of the All Star squads wasn’t the new format but rather the new voting system. Plenty of fans were sceptical as to whether their votes would have all that much weight on the final picks. One talkback caller grumbled, “I’ve voted but I don’t know why I bothered. I know the Commissioner and his goons will just put whoever they want in All Star jumpers anyway.”

Would that be the case? Here are the teams for the Coastal-East-West All Stars and the Southern-NZ All Stars.

Coastal-East-West All Stars

SP Roderick Beresford (DAR) - 10-5, 3.16 ERA, 114.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 1.5 WAR
SP Victor Doubleday (CAI) - 12-2, 3.07 ERA, 102.2 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.2 WAR
SP Blair Norris (KUN) - 6-7, 2.64 ERA, 109.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 3.7 WAR
SP Zachariah Pond (DAR) - 5-7, 4.39 ERA, 96.1 IP, 1.49 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 2.0 WAR
SP Tristan Stobbie (PER) - 8-3, 2.69 ERA, 77.0 IP, 1.23 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.5 WAR
SP Nelson Thurgood (BRI) - 8-5, 2.56 ERA, 112.1 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 3.8 K/9, 2.8 WAR
SP John Zglinicki (CEN) - 8-5, 3.57 ERA, 118.1 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 6.0 K/9, 2.5 WAR
RP Brian Hanbridge (KUN) - 6-0, 1.37 ERA, 39.1 IP, 1.45 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 0.8 WAR
RP Allen Jiang (ADE) - 2-1, 1.91 ERA, 37.2 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 1.1 WAR
CL Ke-yong Fang (NEW) - 2-0, 19 SV, 1.39 ERA, 32.1 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 0.6 WAR
CL Aaron Fingleson (CAI) - 1-0, 21 SV, 1.49 ERA, 36.1 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 0.5 WAR
CL Moeaktola Liao (ADE) - 3-3, 23 SV, 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 0.7 WAR
C Kent Okolita (DAR) - .280/.392/.455, 246 AB, 11 HR, 0 SB, 130 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
C Tadakuni Sasaki (PER) - .275/.315/.521, 236 AB, 14 HR, 0 SB, 117 wRC+, 1.7 WAR
1B Ronald Aitken (CAI) - .284/.401/.509, 289 AB, 14 HR, 0 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
1B Justin Auger (CEN) - .286/.364/.520, 294 AB, 19 HR, 2 SB, 138 wRC+, 2.0 WAR
1B Richard Moore (ADE) - .280/.374/.502, 293 AB, 19 HR, 0 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.0 WAR
2B Domenic Cook (BRI) - .263/.340/.519, 270 AB, 17 HR, 1 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
2B Andre Wiltshire (CEN) - .319/.400/.485, 295 AB, 10 HR, 10 SB, 139 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
3B Malcolm Pickhills (ADE) - .257/.330/.502, 269 AB, 17 HR, 0 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
SS Carlos Acevedo (ADE) - .304/.333/.470, 270 AB, 11 HR, 8 SB, 112 wRC+, 1.9 WAR
SS Nicholas Bennett (NEW) - .316/.344/.500, 304 AB, 11 HR, 3 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
SS Stéphane Lecomte (DAR) - .310/.370/.397, 310 AB, 1 HR, 24 SB, 110 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
LF Guillermo Julio (NEW) - .326/.360/.479, 307 AB, 8 HR, 16 SB, 121 wRC+, 1.9 WAR
LF Júlio Salazar (KUN) - .304/.343/.436, 227 AB, 5 HR, 17 SB, 108 wRC+, -0.3 WAR
LF Tashiaki Yano (BRI) - .280/.323/.495, 311 AB, 17 HR, 2 SB, 116 wRC+, 0.7 WAR
CF José Amaya (NEW) - .274/.317/.395, 263 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 90 wRC+, -0.2 WAR
RF Rodney Ellison (SYD) - .285/.349/.422, 263 AB, 8 HR, 0 SB, 109 wRC+, 1.0 WAR

Southern-NZ All Stars

SP Tristan Agar (WHA) - 5-3, 3.36 ERA, 99.0 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 2.4 WAR
SP Li Ayliffe (HOB) - 8-1, 2.86 ERA, 100.2 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 1.8 WAR
SP Karl Blackwell (MEL) - 8-7, 3.63 ERA, 104.0 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 5.3 K/9, 2.3 WAR
SP Barry Dean (CHR) - 7-7, 3.69 ERA, 114.2 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 2.8 WAR
SP Ethan Humphries (MEL) - 7-4, 3.99 ERA, 94.2 IP, 1.33 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Domenic Jones (AUC) - 7-4, 4.09 ERA, 103.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 2.1 WAR
SP José Sardiña (WEL) - 6-5, 3.90 ERA, 97.0 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 1.7 WAR
SP Seto Sukarto (CAN) - 8-3, 3.59 ERA, 80.1 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.6 WAR
RP Brian Bryant (WEL) - 4-3, 3.47 ERA, 49.1 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 0.6 WAR
RP Jayaratha Mhari (SYD) - 2-2, 2.20 ERA, 57.1 IP, 0.85 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 0.9 WAR
CL Scott Carson (CHR) - 2-2, 11 SV, 4.15 ERA, 26.0 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 14.2 K/9, 0.7 WAR
CL Isaac Graham (HOB) - 1-2, 19 SV, 1.74 ERA, 31.0 IP, 0.87 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 0.4 WAR
C John Dalton (HOB) - .265/.394/.516, 215 AB, 14 HR, 7 SB, 135 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
C Tim Firth (WHA) - .309/.341/.534, 262 AB, 13 HR, 0 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
1B Nigel Anderton (SYD) - .293/.345/.548, 263 AB, 16 HR, 0 SB, 135 wRC+, 1.4 WAR
1B Glen Donovan (WHA) - .320/.353/.498, 231 AB, 9 HR, 0 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.2 WAR
1B Lance Fookes (CHR) - .292/.334/.529, 308 AB, 18 HR, 0 SB, 132 wRC+, 1.7 WAR
1B John Foreman (AUC) - .264/.344/.521, 292 AB, 21 HR, 0 SB, 124 wRC+, 1.5 WAR
1B Javier Rodríguez (WEL) - .316/.379/.511, 282 AB, 10 HR, 5 SB, 136 wRC+, 1.9 WAR
2B Axel Nankervis (SYD) - .288/.333/.503, 306 AB, 16 HR, 2 SB, 121 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
3B Matthew Utting (CHR) - .273/.361/.461, 267 AB, 11 HR, 0 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
SS Richard Ashton (AUC) - .291/.364/.406, 278 AB, 4 HR, 3 SB, 113 wRC+, 2.0 WAR
SS Jorge Pérez (CAN) - .278/.348/.461, 295 AB, 13 HR, 11 SB, 118 wRC+, 1.6 WAR
LF Pedro Mercado (MEL) - .294/.384/.496, 262 AB, 13 HR, 19 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
LF Tomas Zartuche (CHR) - .339/.386/.423, 310 AB, 1 HR, 24 SB, 124 wRC+, 1.0 WAR
CF Edgardo Rico (WHA) - .361/.389/.439, 305 AB, 0 HR, 20 SB, 123 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
CF Gilberto Soberón (WEL) - .310/.344/.496, 226 AB, 10 HR, 7 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.1 WAR
RF Caspar Purcell (MEL) - .255/.349/.510, 239 AB, 17 HR, 2 SB, 123 wRC+, 0.1 WAR

How did they match up to the fan picks? For the Southern-NZ All Stars, Vern Bull, Glen Walsh, Beau Hauer, and Neil Bellett, all with the most votes in their positions, didn’t get picked. Why not? Bellett was simple, according to the selection committee. He hadn’t played yet this season due to injury so why should he get an All Star jersey? Hauer didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify (3.1PA per team game - same as in previous seasons), while Bull and Walsh didn’t “have the form to justify selection.” In fact, overall the Southern-NZ All Stars looked very different to the fan picks, and the talkback lines ran hot with indignation. The Coastal-East-West All Stars were much more closely aligned with the fan vote, though Mario Correa was a notable omission due to being injured.

The Commissioner’s Office resolutely defended the final decisions, saying, “While this is obviously an event for the fans, it’s also an event to reward the best players of the first half of the season. Popularity off the field does not ensure performance on the field and it seems the opposite is true too. While the voice of the fans is highly appreciated and is certainly considered, we wish this event to be primarily a reward for on-field achievements.”

That did nothing to dampen the anger of those out for baseball blood, with many threatening to boycott the All Star fixture.

2064 All Star Game

Blair Norris was chosen as the starting pitcher for the Coastal-East-West All Stars while Barry Dean was favoured for the Southern-NZ All Stars. Despite the protests of a few the game was sold out, with not a seat in Venom Ballpark spare.

The Southern-NZ took the early lead, Dean striking out the side in the bottom of the first to the roars of the crowd. The Coastal-East-West tied it up in the 2nd before Carlos Acevedo put them ahead with a solo homerun in the 3rd. The fans loved that but then went absolutely silly after the next man up, Andre Wiltshire sent a fly into the left-field alley. Showcasing his wheels and helped by an awkward bounce off the wall, Wiltshire motored around 3B and headed for home. The entire stadium rose to their feet to see him dive home ahead of the throw for an All-Star inside-the-park homerun.

Once the noise died down, commentator Alan Sneddon said, “Well, I think the aggro some fans have towards this fixture and the AUNZBL in general has been well and truly drowned out. And drowned out as it should be, by the incredible athletic feats of the players, not by tone-deaf press releases from the game’s governors.”

That proved to be all the scoring until the bottom of the 8th when the Coastal-East-West tacked on some insurance. They coasted through the top of the 9th to win 4-1.

In an amusing note, there was obviously some kind of mix-up between the Commissioner’s Office and the official scorers for the game, as the official box score didn’t include logos for either team or team names, instead detailing a contest between Team 1 All Stars and Team 2 All Stars.

Wiltshire, who went 1-2 with that sensational inside-the-park homer, was named All Star MVP.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Tim Firth dominated proceedings in December. He hit .367/.420/.711, 33-90, with 15 runs, 7 doubles, 8 homers, 29RBI, and 8BB. He was given his first All Star cap and was deemed so good that he also won Slugger of the Month. The handsome catcher - he’d already made a fair few ‘eligible bachelor’ lists - was looked up to by his teammates despite his youth and lack of big-league experience. Glen Donovan said this of Firth, “The guy knows what to say and when to say it. If you’re having a slump he’ll be beside you in the dugout giving you encouragement, if you’re on a hot streak he’ll be singing your praises and slapping your back. He’s just a real team guy, someone you love having on your side.”

Hurler of the Month: Dan Pankhurst had the nickname ‘Giant Killer’ though nowadays, he revealed, some of his teammates had taken to calling him ‘The Old Man of the Mound.’ Old or not, he owned the mound in December, going 5-0 from 6 starts, his ERA 1.49, his FIP 3.32, and his WHIP the best of the month among qualified pitchers, at 0.87. He wasn’t striking out all that many hitters anymore, fanning just 19 in 48.1 innings but he was showing the guile that often came with age, mixing his four pitches up well and inducing a lot of weak contact. Pankhurst was, however, closing in on an unenviable mark: 200 career losses. He currently had 191, by far the most among active pitchers and the 5th-most of all time.

Slugger of the Month: see Rookie of the Month, above.

Media Watch

Marcos Lopez: Lopez hit .318/.362/.514 during the month, collecting 34 hits. In fact, he would head into January with the equal-most bases of any hitter in the league (174), and was tracking to make it to both 200 hits and 30 homeruns. For the season he was hitting .300/.336/.497. Not bad for a guy who would turn 41 in less than 2 months. He needed only 19 more hits to pass Alastair Mildren and become the second-hittingest batter of all-time.

Other Notes

Coastal Division: The Venom (14-12) couldn’t continue their November momentum, while Cairns (18-8) shrugged off the injury to Correa to leap 4 games ahead of Adelaide. Darwin (15-11) were humming along nicely as well, a further 2 games back and looking to chase Adelaide down.

East-west Division: Brisbane (17-9) followed up their excellent November with an equally strong December, overtaking the Thunder (13-13) at the head of the division to lead them by 2. Kununurra (15-11) finished the month on equal pegging with Central Coast. Newcastle (15-11) recovered from their disastrous November to be just 1 game below .500.

NZ Division: Christchurch (13-13) were once again par but this wasn’t enough to keep them at the top of the division. Auckland (16-10) jumped out to a 3-game lead, the acquisition of John Foreman appearing to be a pretty good move. Wellington (7-19) began performing to expectations, finishing the month 11 games below .500 and 10 games off the division pace.

Southern Division: Canberra (14-12) did enough to poke their noses in front of Melbourne (10-16), who struggled for consistency all month.

Wildcard: Adelaide, Central Coast, and Kununurra all shared the same record, though 3 did not fit into 2. Darwin were 2 games back, the Cowboys 3, and Melbourne and Newcastle 5.

#

There was plenty of variety on the batting leaderboards.

Edgardo Rico (.360/.388/.438, 0HR) lead the league in BA, hits (121), runs (61), and WAR (3.3).

Larry Booth (.331/.438/.391, 0HR), who missed out on All Star selection due to injury, topped the OBP stakes.

John Foreman (.261/.338/.506, 22HR) led the HR race by 2.

Teammate Callum McCabe (.333/.412/.566, 13HR) didn’t qualify for the All Star Game due to lack of game-time. If the fixture had been a week later, however, he would have. He led the league in SLG, OPS, and weighted OBA (.420).

Tied with Marcos Lopez for most bases was Nicholas Bennett (.320/.347/.521, 14HR, 174TB).

Newcastle’s Todd Fisher (.259/.297/.399, 6HR) wasn’t having an inspiring season, yet somehow had 29 doubles, 5 more than anybody else.

Justin Auger (.282/.368/.502, 19HR) was at the head of the RBI chart, with 72.

Ronald Aitken (.289/.410/.508, 15HR) had the most walks (60) and was tied for the most extra-base hits (38). He shared that latter mark with Domenic Cook (.261/.333/.528, 20HR), who had the league’s best isolated power (.268).

Victor Doubleday (13-2, 3.06 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) had a monster first-half. He topped all qualified pitchers in wins, H/9 (6.54), OAVG (.202), and K/9 (9.36).

Barry Dean (8-7, 3.60 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.14 WHIP) might no longer have the best K/9 rate in the league but he still had the most strikeouts, with 125, and boasted the best strikeout to walk ratio, with 5.43.

Blair Norris (7-7, 2.72 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) had the best FIP and WAR (3.7), and was tied with Roderick Beresford (11-5, 3.08 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) for best WHIP.

Nelson Thurgood (9-5, 2.49 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) made the All Star Game but didn’t pitch. He led all-comers in ERA and HR/9 (0.30).

John Zglinicki (10-5. 3.33 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) was averaging 7.5 innings per start. He’d thrown 135.1 innings so far this season, 13 more than any other pitcher.

Moeaktola Liao had 24 saves, the most of any closer.

Halfway through the season, BA was sitting at .268, the same mark as last season. ERA, however, was only 4.34, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since 2050. The overall ERA that year was 4.26.

ABC Wrap-up

Brisbane (46-36) extended their lead in the Northern to 8 1/2 games, Gold Coast (38-45) continuing to slump.

There was no catching Sydney (59-22) in the Southern, none of the other teams above .500.

Kalgoorlie (45-38) were fending off the Perth Sharks (41-41) in the Western, Kalgoorlie’s lead only 3 1/2 games.

Jakarta (51-32) managed to extend their lead over Hamilton (48-35) to 3 games.

Ted Blume (.338/.463/.633, 24HR) had certainly bloomed this season. He had the fourth-best BA in the ABC, and led the league in homers, though Si-xun Qiao (.323/.391/.586, 23HR) was right in his rearview mirror.

Hamilton’s Warren Gray (10-3, 1.69 ERA, 2.44 FIP, 0.89 WHIP) left the AUNZBL after the 2061 season with a 40-47 career record, having lost 15 and 14 games respectively in his final 2 seasons. He had a 37-25 record after 2 and a half seasons in the ABC and boasted the league’s best ERA, FIP, and WHIP so far this season. His 112 strikeouts placed him third on that ladder and his 10 wins tied him for second.

AUNZBL Standings, Jan 1

02-08-2018, 03:08 AM	#745
Izz Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 2,470	2064/2065 Season - December 2064/2065 Season - December 2064 #1 Draft Pick 19 y/o high school baller Warren Collard had the distinction of being this season's number 1 overall draft pick. Collard hit .505 against high school competition and while he’d patrolled the outfield corners for his team, Canberra wanted to train him as a 3B. He projected to have good power, both over the fence and into the gaps. He was noted as an extremely loyal young man who had a decent work ethic and barely took a day off sick. However, one anonymous source from his former school said, “Warren’s a gifted athlete, for sure, but he has some learning disabilities that were never properly treated due to his athletic prowess. Put it this way: hopefully his coaches stick to visual tutelage rather than giving him anything to read.” Canberra assigned Collard to their rookie league team, the Nelson Bay Pelicans. A quick look at how the previous 4 #1 draft picks were doing: 2063, Vinnie Hanscombe: Rated the #17 prospect in the league by OotPB TV prior to the season beginning, Hanscombe was dominating double-A with a stat-line of .329/.407/.429. Last season he’d recorded two 5+ hit games in single-A and plenty thought he’d earn a March call-up, at least, to the Aces this year. 2062, Brendan Penfold: Won a spot in the Canberra rotation this season, and they currently ranked him as their second starter. He’d had his struggles, his ERA+ through 12 starts 91. He had 5 wins and 5 losses, a 4.74 ERA, a 4.23 FIP, and a 1.79 WHIP. Still, he’d struck out 51 from 62.2 innings and his pitching coaches said he still had “mountains of room for improvement,” both in his individual pitches and his control of them. He’d been ranked the league’s #5 prospect prior to the season. 2061, Axel Zhou: Currently injured, Zhou was proving an important cog in Auckland’s lineup when fit. He’d hit .300/.333/.445, with 5HR, in 211PA. He’d missed the entire 2063 season due to an injury suffered during spring training but he’d didn’t appear hampered by any ill aftereffects. 2060, Richard Page: Playing behind Kent Okolita would always be a tough ask, but Page did appear to be lagging. Last year he hit less than .200 in 114 plate appearances across 45 games. This season his stat-line was .214/.283/.286, with 0HR, from a measly 46PA. “He’s 25 years old now,” a source within the organization lamented, “but he's shown little improvement in selecting which pitches to swing at and therefore a lot of his contact is weak.” Notable Performances 1 Dec: Player of the Week went to Newcastle’s Nathan Kapuna. He hit .586/.636/1.034, his 17 hits including 4 doubles and 3 homers. 26 y/o Kapuna would qualify for free agency at the end of this season. 2 Dec: Justin Auger leaped to the top of the RBI boards with his fourth Grand Slam of the season in Central Coast’s 9-1 defeat of Newcastle. The Slammer was his 7th of this calendar year. For his career ‘Crazy Eyes’ had 24 major-league Grand Slams, though he’d not managed a walk-off one yet. 2 Dec: Wellington forced their game against Cairns to extra innings thanks to a 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th. The score remained tied at 5 until the top of the 12th when Chi-seong Lee blasted a 2-out 3-run dinger. The Fury led off the bottom of the inning with a walk but put up no further resistance, falling 8-5. 3 Dec: Both teams committed 3 errors but the contest was still a gripping one, Kununurra heading into the bottom of the 9th holding onto a 1-run lead thanks to a pair of 3-run innings in the 6th and 7th. They’d outhit Auckland 14-7 at that point but the hometown fans weren’t counting the Metros out of it just yet. Their confidence proved to be well-founded. Rodney Trembath led the inning off with a single before Chuk-yan Lung launched a 2-1 fastball deep to right. It kept on going and he got to touch ‘em all with a 2-run walk-off homer. Final score: 7-6 Auckland as they fought to maintain a tenuous advantage in the NZ. 4 Dec: Christchurch looked like they had this one well in hand, their lead 4 heading into the bottom of the 9th. However, their recently erratic bullpen (primarily Scott Carson in this case) conspired to let the Sluggers back into the contest, Tim Firth tying the game with a 2-out 3-run homer. Christchurch managed 2 baserunners in the 11th but that was all the extra-innings threat they offered. Glen Donovan did the honours for Whangarei in the bottom of the 12th, crushing a Canavan heater 441 feet over dead centre for a walk-off winner. 7-6 Whangarei. 4 Dec: A pair of solo homeruns did the deed for Brisbane in the bottom of the 9th in their clash with Melbourne. The Aces had snuck ahead by 1 in the top of the inning and looked like winning it when a bottom of the inning double-play snuffed out a baserunner and left them just 1 dismissal short of victory. But then Norm Blume put a 3-1 fastball into the seats to tie it up. This was followed by Tashiaki Yano crunching an 0-1 curveball deep over centrefield for his second bomb of the night. Walk-off 8-7 Brisbane win, Melbourne’s Oliwa Lomu's blown save his first of the season. 8 Dec: Newcastle 1B Todd Fisher won PotW, hitting .500/.500/.923. 9 Dec: It took 13 innings to separate Brisbane and Perth, the Bandits doing the dirty in the top of the 13th via a sacrifice fly. Earlier, Perth had equalized in the bottom of the 9th to prolong matters but in the end couldn’t avoid crashing to their 41st defeat of the season. Brisbane’s Terence Stuart rapped 4 singles from 6 at-bats. 10 Dec: Claudio Banda was magnificent in blanking the Roos on the back of 6 hits and 0 walks. He only struck out 2 but got through the game in 93 pitches, Newcastle skipper Andre Allan scratching his head after the game and saying, “Yeah, he got through his work quickly, all right. Suddenly I looked up at the scoreboard and it was the 8th and I could’ve sworn it was still the 5th. It wasn’t just a low pitch-count, either. His reset and pitch-picking processes are very quick. Next time we face him I’ll have to remind our hitters to slow things down a bit and put him off his rhythm.” Banda’s Crocs didn’t make it easy for their pitcher, either, not getting on the board until the bottom of the 6th and committing a couple of errors. The final score was 2-0 to Cairns. 10 Dec: Adelaide came from behind to tie the game in the 6th inning of their clash against Sydney. That was all the scoring until the bottom of the 12th. Andrew Benbow led off the inning with a walk, was bunted into scoring position and an out later scored off a Mitch Goddard single. 5-4 Adelaide, their 38-28 record only good enough for second in the Coastal. 10 Dec: Canberra piled on 20 hits to dispose of Darwin 12-5. Jay Watts and Jorge Perez both went 4-5. Despite the hit parade no Cavalry batter went downtown. By contrast, 2 Diggers hitters cleared the fences, out of only 5 hits. 11 Dec: Matthew Utting provided some big bang in Christchurch’s 9-1 defeat of Cairns. The burly 3B went 4-4, 3 of those hits traveling out of the park. He went deep in the 4th over right, hit a monster 435-foot jack over right-centre in the 6th, and led off the 8th with a first-pitch bomb over right. This was the second time in his big-league career that Utting had hit 3 homers in a game. Barry Dean went the whole 9 for the Cowboys, looking at a shutout until, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Calvin Hodnett pulled a 2-0 pitch into the bleachers for a solo homer. Dean was throwing a few tater balls this season, having given up homeruns in each of his last 5 starts. In fact, in his 14 starts so far, he’d only gone 3 without having to crick his neck to watch a fly clear the fences. 11 Dec: Up 3-0 heading into the bottom of the 9th, Wellington must’ve felt somewhat comfortable. The first out came easily enough, a regulation ground-ball to the shortstop. Then Matt Cusack nudged one down the 1B line for a single. 2 pitches later Rupert Bethune got a fastball to drive and mashed it 439 feet over straightaway centre to make it a 1-run game. Pete Mulholland doubled over the head of the 3B. Vincent Howell flied out and Wellington needed just 1 more out to hold on. Closer Ronald Cornell fell behind Andy Davies 2 and 0. The 2-0 pitch was up in the zone and Davies drilled it into the right-field alley. RBI-double and the game was tied. New pitcher. Larry Booth struck out swinging to send this into extras. Wellington started a 2-out rally in the top of the 10th, getting runners to 2B and 3B but that was where they stayed. Brisbane juiced the bases with 1 away in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a hit batter, a pop-up double and an intentional walk. An out later Pete Mulholland drew a walk-off walk to give the Bandits an improbable 4-3 victory. Skipper Timothy Donaldson said in the after-match presser, “It’s wins like these, the ones we probably didn’t deserve, that will really count when we’re tallying up at the end of the season.” 11 Dec: Central Coast and Kununurra also went 10 innings in their matchup, though this game was never one-way traffic. The Thunder went ahead by 4 after 4 but Kununurra had tied it back up by the end of the 6th. The Thunder pushed their way in front in the 7th by 1 and added 2 more in the 9th. Kununurra tied the game in the bottom of the inning without recording an out thanks to a 3-run Rhett Allan jack. Come the bottom of the 10th and Al Ayliffe delivered the walk-off magic via a 2-run homer. 9-7 Kununurra. That hit was the twelfth walk-off hit of Ayliffe’s major-league career, and his ninth walk-off homerun. 12 Dec: Justin Auger touched ‘em all for the fourth game in a row, providing all the scoring in Central Coast’s 5-2 loss to Kununurra. 13 Dec: Central Coast dropped their third in a row against Kununurra, getting belted 8-3. Auger could only single to end his HR streak at 4. 13 Dec: Victor Doubleday got OotPB TV’s #1 performance of the day with a 9.1 inning outing against Christchurch. The only run he gave up was a homer in the 5th to Maurice Clemens, Miguel Ibanez having also hit a solo homerun in the top of the inning. Fast-forward to the top of the 10th and Cairns piled on 4 runs, 3 of those via a Mario Correa jack, to jump ahead 5-1. Doubleday threw 1 pitch in the bottom of the inning, inducing a pop-out to the shortstop before being replaced. Sterling Boston battled through the next 2 hitters but got them both out to ensure a Cairns’ victory. Doubleday allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk in his 9.1 innings, fanning 10. He had a league-leading 11 wins for the season. 14 Dec: Melbourne romped to a 10-0 victory over Newcastle. Karl Blackwell was the star of the show, throwing a 6-hit, 0-walk, 3-strikeout shutout. The shutout was his second of the season. After winning October Hurler of the Month, Blackwell had gone 1-5 in November and was now 1-1 after 3 starts in December. 36 y/o journeyman catcher Mi-yuan Bargenquat went 4-4 in the victory, with a walk, 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 4RBI. 15 Dec: Young Tim Firth won PotW. The dashing 24 y/o hit .417/.440/1.042, his 10 hits including 3 doubles and 4 homeruns. 15 Dec: It took 14 innings for the Roos to prevail over the Fury 6-3. 24 y/o Nicholas Bennett was the talk of the town after the game, having gone 6-7, with 3 runs and 2RBI. Not only did he safely hit 6 times, he also cycled. He hit singles in the 1st, 9th, and 12th, a homerun in the 5th, a double in the 7th, and a triple in the 14th. That triple gave Newcastle the go-ahead run. A pitch later Hektor Knittle blasted a 2-run homer to give the Roos insurance. Baby-faced Bennett only shrugged after the game and said, “Well, I had enough chances at it, didn’t I? It’s not often a guy gets so many at-bats in one game.” 15 Dec: Christchurch dropped their fourth straight to fall 3 games below .500, Melbourne edging past them 8-7. Marcos Lopez had just 1 hit in the game, a 7th-inning RBI single. That hit, however, moved Lopez to third-outright on the all-time hits leaderboard ahead of Ashley Snijders. Lopez now had 3187 hits. He needed only 36 more to surpass Alastair Mildren in second spot. 15 Dec: Justin Auger dished his eighteenth and nineteenth homers of the season in Central Coast’s 6-4 win over Hobart. The first was a 3-run affair in the 1st, while the second was a 2-run walk-off blast in the bottom of the 9th. The shots leapfrogged Auger to the top of the season homerun board. 15 Dec: There was also walk-off homerun magic in the Cairns-Kununurra clash. With the scores locked at 3 in the 10th, the Pioneers scored the go-ahead run thanks to a throwing error. Miguel Ibanez wasn’t going to let that put him off his stride, however. After Peter Moy walked to lead off the bottom of the inning, Ibanez stroked a fly into the left-centre stands for a 2-run walk-off dinger. 18 Dec: Yoshihito Morimoto scored a run in Central Coast’s extra-innings 4-3 walk-off win against Hobart, giving him a 10-game run-scoring streak. He went 3-5 across the game. Richard Humphrey got the winner for the Thunder, bashing a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the 11th. 21 Dec: In a game bereft of offense, Auckland’s John Foreman still managed to deliver a highlight reel moment. Perth had gone ahead in the 5th by 1 and looked certain to edge out a tight one, Auckland only able to muster 2 hits through 8 innings. That all changed rather quickly in the bottom of the 9th. Cam Kline led off with a single and was bunted into scoring position. Callum McCabe fouled off several before hitting a single wide of 2B. Kline held up at 3B and Foreman strode to the plate. One pitch later it was all over, the league HR leader adding another to his total with a 417-foot blast over left-centre. 3-run walk-off effort, the Aces stealing a 3-1 victory. 22 Dec: Hektor Knittle had taken to Newcastle (see Notable Trades/Signings below) like a fish to water. He bashed his way to PotW by hitting .520/.556/.920, with 3 homers. In the 9 games he’d played since the trade he’d hit .462/.512/.872, with 5 dingers. 22 Dec: Central Coast and Adelaide had jousted a fair amount over the previous few seasons, with their rivalry played up in the media at every opportunity. They delivered on that rivalry in today’s game, Adelaide ahead 5-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th only for Yin-ti Zhuo to club a Grand Slam to tie things up. Neither team was able to break the deadlock until the top of the 13th. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 away, Malcolm Pickhills doubled Li Hayes home to push Adelaide back ahead. Quentin Welch followed up with a walk and the bases were loaded. Norm Donaldson made sure the Venom got maximum benefit, sending a 1-2 curveball into the left-centre bleachers. Grand Slam and Central Coast were broken, quickly surrendering in the bottom of the frame, Adelaide 10-5 winners. 28 Dec: Brisbane treated Sydney’s pitchers with contempt, racking up 22 base hits in their 11-1 victory. Norm Blume went 4-6 with a double and HR while Brendon Marris was 4-4, all singles, with a walk. 29 Dec: He mightn’t have made the All Star team due to injury curtailing his game time but Beau Hauer stood out in the 4 other games played during the week, hitting .467/.529/1.000, with 2 homers, to win his second PotW for the season. 29 Dec: Kununurra were upset 9-4 by Wellington. For the Pioneers, Ramon Martinez went 1-3, with a walk and 2 ribbies. The hit was a homerun in the 6th, giving him a 4-game homerun streak, equalling the best mark of the season so far. 30 Dec: Martinez couldn’t clear the fences as Kununurra reversed yesterday’s result with their own 9-4 win over the Fury. He did nearly make it 5 games in a row with a deep double off the RF wall in the 8th to cap off a 2-5 night. 30 Dec: It was a game for the purists. Auckland and Canberra couldn’t break a nil-all deadlock until the bottom of the 10th when, with 1 out, the Cavalry went single, single, intentional walk, walk-off single to emerge victorious. Auckland ace Domenic Jones went 7.2 innings, giving up only 2 hits and 3 walks, but ended up on the losing side. Notable Injuries 2 Dec: Hobart lost Ignacio Maldonado (.261/.406/.383, 3HR from 143PA) to the DL for the second time in the season. He’d strained an abdominal muscle and faced 5-6 weeks on the sidelines. 2 Dec: Nathan Kapuna (.258/.322/.434, 9HR) had a sprained elbow. 5-6 weeks on the DL for him, too. 7 Dec: Wellington added another to their growing injury ward. Zachary Quinn (4-5, 4.04 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.34 WHIP) had recurring back spasms. “Injury like this, it’s always hard to estimate recovery time,” the team doctor said when asked. “But I figure a good 6 weeks at least.” 9 Dec: Wendell Chatfield (7-3, 2.81 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) faced 2-3 months out with an elbow strain. 9 Dec: Christchurch looked set to lose Pedro Montanez (4-7, 4.89 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 1.48 WHIP) until at least early March with ulnar nerve irritation. 11 Dec: Gary Young (.282/.343/.471, 10HR) was well acquainted with the frustration of being on the DL, his career injury list making for long reading. This time it was a fractured thumb - an injury he’d also suffered in 2048, the year he made his big-league debut - and the estimated recovery time was 6 weeks. 13 Dec: Sydney had already been without Lachlan Limeburner (.223/.284/.511, 8HR from 102PA) for a chunk of the season after he tore his hamstring at the end of October. Now he was done for the campaign thanks to a fractured ankle. 15 Dec: Cairns needed to make-do without Mario Correa (.304/.343/.552, 16HR) for the next 3 or so weeks. He had an oblique strain. 17 Dec: Jay Watts (.342/.408/.476, 7HR) would miss 3-4 weeks with a hamstring strain. Watts had the third-best BA in the league at the time of his injury. 17 Dec: Central Coast’s Zach Merritt (5-5, 4.64 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.18 WHIP) was gone for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff. 19 Dec: Mitchell Cox (.290/.361/.465, 6HR) joined Canberra’s overflowing injury ward. His fractured finger would take around a month to heal. 20 Dec: And another one bites the dust. 39 y/o Ivan Parker (2-2, 15 sv, 2.61 ERA), who Canberra had been using at closer before elevating to the rotation to cover injuries, was gone-burger for the season. He had a torn rotator cuff, which would be tough to rehab at his age. 22 Dec: Jack of all trades Bagaskoro Maryadi (.331/.397/.517, 5HR from 133PA), who was doing an admirable job off the bench for Kununurra, would spend the next 5-6 weeks warming his couch while he recovered from an intercostal strain. 22 Dec: Jesus Vega (.264/.392/.409, 8HR) had shoulder tendinitis. Hobart would be without his services for at least 6 weeks. 24 Dec: Leo Walena (.273/.335/.386, 7HR) was only 22 y/o but already into his third AUNZBL season. The Auckland 3B had torn the meniscus in his knee and would be out for a month. Notable Trades/Signings 2 Dec: Jack Binns (3-6, 4.39 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.19 WHIP in 2064; 75-72, 4.47 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) was one of those pitchers whose underlying stats showed a much better performer than his W-L and ERA did. Noted as an extremely diligent trainer who always made time for the fans, Binns was one of the Blue Sox’s most beloved players, his image regularly on the local celebrity gossip shows. Binns could’ve made it in the bigs as a hitter if he so chose, according to the team’s batting coach, who said, “He regularly puts them out of the park in practice. He’s just a natural.” However, pitching was his chosen trade, the 29 y/o stating he had no desire to “do a Welch.” The Blue Sox today announced, much to the delight of the fans, that Binns had agreed to a 4-year extension, the final season a player option. Quentin Welch - who’d made the switch from major-league starting pitcher to major-league starting hitter as a 24 y/o 3 Dec: Christchurch negotiated a deal with 30 y/o Edward Vance (3-3, 5.02 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.62 WHIP in 2064 through 6 starts; 50-29, 4.12 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.32 WHIP career) to buy out his remaining arbitration years and the first year of free agency. The 4-year deal was, according to Vance’s manager, “in the club’s favour but acceptable to both parties.” Despite having won 18 games in 2062 and 19 in 2063 Vance was currently only Christchurch’s fifth-choice starter. 9 Dec: Cairns and Perth engaged in another trade, the Crocs lightening their outfield load by sending 30 y/o LF Jose de la Cruz (.260/.353/.331, 2HR in 2064; .282/.394/.370, 6HR since debut last season) and cash to the Heat in exchange for 29 y/o 2B Angus Beckett (.273/.321/.305, 0HR in 2064; .281/.320/.379, 8HR career) and a pitching prospect. Sneddon was critical of this deal also. “Again, I don’t get it. Okay, I guess Cairns are shedding a bit of salary but I’m having to dig to find even that as a positive. Yes, the Crocs have been playing Ahern at 2B the last week or so but that’s not because they have no options, that’s because of poor roster management. They sent Jarod Boxsell down to AAA at the end of last month. Struggling offensively, definitely, but more than capable of playing good defense at 2B and a guy who’ll only get better the longer he spends in the majors. Beckett’s a cheap option, true, and he hit .280 last season but he doesn’t have great range at 2B and has a weak arm and is just going to spoil what was a pretty well-balanced lineup. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a talking head who’s never run a ball club.” 10 Dec: “Hey,” Sneddon told those watching at the beginning of his show, “do you fancy having your very own baseball-player-slash-butler? If so, give Perth GM Giralldo Ulrich a call. He seems on a mission to finish the calendar year with a totally different roster to that which he started the year with and he’s open to all offers. I’ve heard he likes moon-dust. Offer some of that, and I bet Sasaki* could be all yours.” In truth, while it did seem that Perth were having a fire-sale, today’s trade was slightly more nuanced than first appeared. Perth sent 25 y/o C/DH Hektor Knittle (.232/.305/.333, 3HR from 187 PA) to Newcastle in exchange for 28 y/o LHP Ashley Lightfoot (4-0, 2 sv, 3.04 ERA from 23 relief appearances) and a 20 y/o pitching prospect. Heat fans were understandably upset at losing Knittle, with the German-born catcher looking at last like he had grown into the enormous power potential that saw him make the top prospects list from 2060-2063, debuting at #29 and moving right up to #7 prior to the 2063 season, even if most of his good swings this year were currently going into outfielders’ gloves. In return, Perth got a serviceable bullpen arm that their new skipper thought might be closer material (not that he had much else to work with)... ...And the number 4 overall pick from last year’s draft, 20 y/o Cooper ‘Nine Fingers’ Dempsey. Dempsey, the scouts said, could be Barry Dean-like in a couple seasons, with a fastball that would be hard to rival. For now, though, he’d head off to short-A. Maybe in a couple seasons Perth fans might have something to be happy about. Tadakuni Sasaki, Perth’s everyday catcher 19 Dec: Adelaide sent 26 y/o Mitch Goddard (.315/.343/.474, 11HR) off to Canberra in exchange for 31 y/o RF Danny Caporn (.304/.347/.503, 7HR from 174PA) and a 23 y/o SS who was decent defensively but would only ever be a singles hitter. Sneddon’s take? “Adelaide obviously think Caporn will help them win this year. He’s a free agent at the end of the season and I can’t see the Venom offering him an extension. He’s a sharp outfielder, especially in right, has good speed and is always a threat to steal. He also looks to be on a bit of a contract drive, so Adelaide could well get some value. “I feel sorry for Goddard. Came up through the Venom system, making a good fist of the DH role but now shunted off to the Cavalry, who aren’t out of contention in the Southern but everybody knows they’re not real contenders, especially with the amount of guys they have injured. Still, he’s a good get for Canberra. He’s under club control for a while yet and he’s a good guy to have around the place. Once Bellett and Watts are back he’ll extend their lineup nicely.” 30 Dec: “And, yet again,” Sneddon told his viewers, “I’ve got egg on my face.” Why? Sneddon had been sure Adelaide’s move to acquire 31 y/o Danny Caporn from Canberra was solely to help them this year. Adelaide GM Santiago Rodriguez obviously felt differently. He fronted the press today to tell them that Caporn had agreed to a 4-year extension. “Absolutely stoked,” was Caporn’s reaction. “To be wanted by the best club in the game is a real honour.” Since coming across, Caporn had hit .400/.419/.667, with 2HR, from 7 games. 2064 All Stars* The major talking point leading up to the naming of the All Star squads wasn’t the new format but rather the new voting system. Plenty of fans were sceptical as to whether their votes would have all that much weight on the final picks. One talkback caller grumbled, “I’ve voted but I don’t know why I bothered. I know the Commissioner and his goons will just put whoever they want in All Star jumpers anyway.” Would that be the case? Here are the teams for the Coastal-East-West All Stars and the Southern-NZ All Stars. Coastal-East-West All Stars SP Roderick Beresford (DAR) - 10-5, 3.16 ERA, 114.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 1.5 WAR SP Victor Doubleday (CAI) - 12-2, 3.07 ERA, 102.2 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.2 WAR SP Blair Norris (KUN) - 6-7, 2.64 ERA, 109.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 3.7 WAR SP Zachariah Pond (DAR) - 5-7, 4.39 ERA, 96.1 IP, 1.49 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 2.0 WAR SP Tristan Stobbie (PER) - 8-3, 2.69 ERA, 77.0 IP, 1.23 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.5 WAR SP Nelson Thurgood (BRI) - 8-5, 2.56 ERA, 112.1 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 3.8 K/9, 2.8 WAR SP John Zglinicki (CEN) - 8-5, 3.57 ERA, 118.1 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 6.0 K/9, 2.5 WAR RP Brian Hanbridge (KUN) - 6-0, 1.37 ERA, 39.1 IP, 1.45 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 0.8 WAR RP Allen Jiang (ADE) - 2-1, 1.91 ERA, 37.2 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 1.1 WAR CL Ke-yong Fang (NEW) - 2-0, 19 SV, 1.39 ERA, 32.1 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 0.6 WAR CL Aaron Fingleson (CAI) - 1-0, 21 SV, 1.49 ERA, 36.1 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 0.5 WAR CL Moeaktola Liao (ADE) - 3-3, 23 SV, 2.41 ERA, 37.1 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 0.7 WAR C Kent Okolita (DAR) - .280/.392/.455, 246 AB, 11 HR, 0 SB, 130 wRC+, 2.7 WAR C Tadakuni Sasaki (PER) - .275/.315/.521, 236 AB, 14 HR, 0 SB, 117 wRC+, 1.7 WAR 1B Ronald Aitken (CAI) - .284/.401/.509, 289 AB, 14 HR, 0 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.3 WAR 1B Justin Auger (CEN) - .286/.364/.520, 294 AB, 19 HR, 2 SB, 138 wRC+, 2.0 WAR 1B Richard Moore (ADE) - .280/.374/.502, 293 AB, 19 HR, 0 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.0 WAR 2B Domenic Cook (BRI) - .263/.340/.519, 270 AB, 17 HR, 1 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.7 WAR 2B Andre Wiltshire (CEN) - .319/.400/.485, 295 AB, 10 HR, 10 SB, 139 wRC+, 2.3 WAR 3B Malcolm Pickhills (ADE) - .257/.330/.502, 269 AB, 17 HR, 0 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.5 WAR SS Carlos Acevedo (ADE) - .304/.333/.470, 270 AB, 11 HR, 8 SB, 112 wRC+, 1.9 WAR SS Nicholas Bennett (NEW) - .316/.344/.500, 304 AB, 11 HR, 3 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.7 WAR SS Stéphane Lecomte (DAR) - .310/.370/.397, 310 AB, 1 HR, 24 SB, 110 wRC+, 2.9 WAR LF Guillermo Julio (NEW) - .326/.360/.479, 307 AB, 8 HR, 16 SB, 121 wRC+, 1.9 WAR LF Júlio Salazar (KUN) - .304/.343/.436, 227 AB, 5 HR, 17 SB, 108 wRC+, -0.3 WAR LF Tashiaki Yano (BRI) - .280/.323/.495, 311 AB, 17 HR, 2 SB, 116 wRC+, 0.7 WAR CF José Amaya (NEW) - .274/.317/.395, 263 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 90 wRC+, -0.2 WAR RF Rodney Ellison (SYD) - .285/.349/.422, 263 AB, 8 HR, 0 SB, 109 wRC+, 1.0 WAR Southern-NZ All Stars SP Tristan Agar (WHA) - 5-3, 3.36 ERA, 99.0 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 2.4 WAR SP Li Ayliffe (HOB) - 8-1, 2.86 ERA, 100.2 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 1.8 WAR SP Karl Blackwell (MEL) - 8-7, 3.63 ERA, 104.0 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 5.3 K/9, 2.3 WAR SP Barry Dean (CHR) - 7-7, 3.69 ERA, 114.2 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 2.8 WAR SP Ethan Humphries (MEL) - 7-4, 3.99 ERA, 94.2 IP, 1.33 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.9 WAR SP Domenic Jones (AUC) - 7-4, 4.09 ERA, 103.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 2.1 WAR SP José Sardiña (WEL) - 6-5, 3.90 ERA, 97.0 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 1.7 WAR SP Seto Sukarto (CAN) - 8-3, 3.59 ERA, 80.1 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.6 WAR RP Brian Bryant (WEL) - 4-3, 3.47 ERA, 49.1 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 0.6 WAR RP Jayaratha Mhari (SYD) - 2-2, 2.20 ERA, 57.1 IP, 0.85 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 0.9 WAR CL Scott Carson (CHR) - 2-2, 11 SV, 4.15 ERA, 26.0 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 14.2 K/9, 0.7 WAR CL Isaac Graham (HOB) - 1-2, 19 SV, 1.74 ERA, 31.0 IP, 0.87 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 0.4 WAR C John Dalton (HOB) - .265/.394/.516, 215 AB, 14 HR, 7 SB, 135 wRC+, 2.6 WAR C Tim Firth (WHA) - .309/.341/.534, 262 AB, 13 HR, 0 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.5 WAR 1B Nigel Anderton (SYD) - .293/.345/.548, 263 AB, 16 HR, 0 SB, 135 wRC+, 1.4 WAR 1B Glen Donovan (WHA) - .320/.353/.498, 231 AB, 9 HR, 0 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.2 WAR 1B Lance Fookes (CHR) - .292/.334/.529, 308 AB, 18 HR, 0 SB, 132 wRC+, 1.7 WAR 1B John Foreman (AUC) - .264/.344/.521, 292 AB, 21 HR, 0 SB, 124 wRC+, 1.5 WAR 1B Javier Rodríguez (WEL) - .316/.379/.511, 282 AB, 10 HR, 5 SB, 136 wRC+, 1.9 WAR 2B Axel Nankervis (SYD) - .288/.333/.503, 306 AB, 16 HR, 2 SB, 121 wRC+, 1.8 WAR 3B Matthew Utting (CHR) - .273/.361/.461, 267 AB, 11 HR, 0 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.8 WAR SS Richard Ashton (AUC) - .291/.364/.406, 278 AB, 4 HR, 3 SB, 113 wRC+, 2.0 WAR SS Jorge Pérez (CAN) - .278/.348/.461, 295 AB, 13 HR, 11 SB, 118 wRC+, 1.6 WAR LF Pedro Mercado (MEL) - .294/.384/.496, 262 AB, 13 HR, 19 SB, 131 wRC+, 2.5 WAR LF Tomas Zartuche (CHR) - .339/.386/.423, 310 AB, 1 HR, 24 SB, 124 wRC+, 1.0 WAR CF Edgardo Rico (WHA) - .361/.389/.439, 305 AB, 0 HR, 20 SB, 123 wRC+, 2.9 WAR CF Gilberto Soberón (WEL) - .310/.344/.496, 226 AB, 10 HR, 7 SB, 122 wRC+, 1.1 WAR RF Caspar Purcell (MEL) - .255/.349/.510, 239 AB, 17 HR, 2 SB, 123 wRC+, 0.1 WAR How did they match up to the fan picks? For the Southern-NZ All Stars, Vern Bull, Glen Walsh, Beau Hauer, and Neil Bellett, all with the most votes in their positions, didn’t get picked. Why not? Bellett was simple, according to the selection committee. He hadn’t played yet this season due to injury so why should he get an All Star jersey? Hauer didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify (3.1PA per team game - same as in previous seasons), while Bull and Walsh didn’t “have the form to justify selection.” In fact, overall the Southern-NZ All Stars looked very different to the fan picks, and the talkback lines ran hot with indignation. The Coastal-East-West All Stars were much more closely aligned with the fan vote, though Mario Correa was a notable omission due to being injured. The Commissioner’s Office resolutely defended the final decisions, saying, “While this is obviously an event for the fans, it’s also an event to reward the best players of the first half of the season. Popularity off the field does not ensure performance on the field and it seems the opposite is true too. While the voice of the fans is highly appreciated and is certainly considered, we wish this event to be primarily a reward for on-field achievements.” That did nothing to dampen the anger of those out for baseball blood, with many threatening to boycott the All Star fixture. 2064 All Star Game Blair Norris was chosen as the starting pitcher for the Coastal-East-West All Stars while Barry Dean was favoured for the Southern-NZ All Stars. Despite the protests of a few the game was sold out, with not a seat in Venom Ballpark spare. The Southern-NZ took the early lead, Dean striking out the side in the bottom of the first to the roars of the crowd. The Coastal-East-West tied it up in the 2nd before Carlos Acevedo put them ahead with a solo homerun in the 3rd. The fans loved that but then went absolutely silly after the next man up, Andre Wiltshire sent a fly into the left-field alley. Showcasing his wheels and helped by an awkward bounce off the wall, Wiltshire motored around 3B and headed for home. The entire stadium rose to their feet to see him dive home ahead of the throw for an All-Star inside-the-park homerun. Once the noise died down, commentator Alan Sneddon said, “Well, I think the aggro some fans have towards this fixture and the AUNZBL in general has been well and truly drowned out. And drowned out as it should be, by the incredible athletic feats of the players, not by tone-deaf press releases from the game’s governors.” That proved to be all the scoring until the bottom of the 8th when the Coastal-East-West tacked on some insurance. They coasted through the top of the 9th to win 4-1. In an amusing note, there was obviously some kind of mix-up between the Commissioner’s Office and the official scorers for the game, as the official box score didn’t include logos for either team or team names, instead detailing a contest between Team 1 All Stars and Team 2 All Stars. Wiltshire, who went 1-2 with that sensational inside-the-park homer, was named All Star MVP. Month Awards Rookie of the Month: Tim Firth dominated proceedings in December. He hit .367/.420/.711, 33-90, with 15 runs, 7 doubles, 8 homers, 29RBI, and 8BB. He was given his first All Star cap and was deemed so good that he also won Slugger of the Month. The handsome catcher - he’d already made a fair few ‘eligible bachelor’ lists - was looked up to by his teammates despite his youth and lack of big-league experience. Glen Donovan said this of Firth, “The guy knows what to say and when to say it. If you’re having a slump he’ll be beside you in the dugout giving you encouragement, if you’re on a hot streak he’ll be singing your praises and slapping your back. He’s just a real team guy, someone you love having on your side.” Hurler of the Month: Dan Pankhurst had the nickname ‘Giant Killer’ though nowadays, he revealed, some of his teammates had taken to calling him ‘The Old Man of the Mound.’ Old or not, he owned the mound in December, going 5-0 from 6 starts, his ERA 1.49, his FIP 3.32, and his WHIP the best of the month among qualified pitchers, at 0.87. He wasn’t striking out all that many hitters anymore, fanning just 19 in 48.1 innings but he was showing the guile that often came with age, mixing his four pitches up well and inducing a lot of weak contact. Pankhurst was, however, closing in on an unenviable mark: 200 career losses. He currently had 191, by far the most among active pitchers and the 5th-most of all time. Slugger of the Month: see Rookie of the Month, above. Media Watch Marcos Lopez: Lopez hit .318/.362/.514 during the month, collecting 34 hits. In fact, he would head into January with the equal-most bases of any hitter in the league (174), and was tracking to make it to both 200 hits and 30 homeruns. For the season he was hitting .300/.336/.497. Not bad for a guy who would turn 41 in less than 2 months. He needed only 19 more hits to pass Alastair Mildren and become the second-hittingest batter of all-time. Other Notes Coastal Division: The Venom (14-12) couldn’t continue their November momentum, while Cairns (18-8) shrugged off the injury to Correa to leap 4 games ahead of Adelaide. Darwin (15-11) were humming along nicely as well, a further 2 games back and looking to chase Adelaide down. East-west Division: Brisbane (17-9) followed up their excellent November with an equally strong December, overtaking the Thunder (13-13) at the head of the division to lead them by 2. Kununurra (15-11) finished the month on equal pegging with Central Coast. Newcastle (15-11) recovered from their disastrous November to be just 1 game below .500. NZ Division: Christchurch (13-13) were once again par but this wasn’t enough to keep them at the top of the division. Auckland (16-10) jumped out to a 3-game lead, the acquisition of John Foreman appearing to be a pretty good move. Wellington (7-19) began performing to expectations, finishing the month 11 games below .500 and 10 games off the division pace. Southern Division: Canberra (14-12) did enough to poke their noses in front of Melbourne (10-16), who struggled for consistency all month. Wildcard: Adelaide, Central Coast, and Kununurra all shared the same record, though 3 did not fit into 2. Darwin were 2 games back, the Cowboys 3, and Melbourne and Newcastle 5. # There was plenty of variety on the batting leaderboards. Edgardo Rico (.360/.388/.438, 0HR) lead the league in BA, hits (121), runs (61), and WAR (3.3). Larry Booth (.331/.438/.391, 0HR), who missed out on All Star selection due to injury, topped the OBP stakes. John Foreman (.261/.338/.506, 22HR) led the HR race by 2. Teammate Callum McCabe (.333/.412/.566, 13HR) didn’t qualify for the All Star Game due to lack of game-time. If the fixture had been a week later, however, he would have. He led the league in SLG, OPS, and weighted OBA (.420). Tied with Marcos Lopez for most bases was Nicholas Bennett (.320/.347/.521, 14HR, 174TB). Newcastle’s Todd Fisher (.259/.297/.399, 6HR) wasn’t having an inspiring season, yet somehow had 29 doubles, 5 more than anybody else. Justin Auger (.282/.368/.502, 19HR) was at the head of the RBI chart, with 72. Ronald Aitken (.289/.410/.508, 15HR) had the most walks (60) and was tied for the most extra-base hits (38). He shared that latter mark with Domenic Cook (.261/.333/.528, 20HR), who had the league’s best isolated power (.268). Victor Doubleday (13-2, 3.06 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) had a monster first-half. He topped all qualified pitchers in wins, H/9 (6.54), OAVG (.202), and K/9 (9.36). Barry Dean (8-7, 3.60 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.14 WHIP) might no longer have the best K/9 rate in the league but he still had the most strikeouts, with 125, and boasted the best strikeout to walk ratio, with 5.43. Blair Norris (7-7, 2.72 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) had the best FIP and WAR (3.7), and was tied with Roderick Beresford (11-5, 3.08 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) for best WHIP. Nelson Thurgood (9-5, 2.49 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) made the All Star Game but didn’t pitch. He led all-comers in ERA and HR/9 (0.30). John Zglinicki (10-5. 3.33 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) was averaging 7.5 innings per start. He’d thrown 135.1 innings so far this season, 13 more than any other pitcher. Moeaktola Liao had 24 saves, the most of any closer. Halfway through the season, BA was sitting at .268, the same mark as last season. ERA, however, was only 4.34, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since 2050. The overall ERA that year was 4.26. ABC Wrap-up Brisbane (46-36) extended their lead in the Northern to 8 1/2 games, Gold Coast (38-45) continuing to slump. There was no catching Sydney (59-22) in the Southern, none of the other teams above .500. Kalgoorlie (45-38) were fending off the Perth Sharks (41-41) in the Western, Kalgoorlie’s lead only 3 1/2 games. Jakarta (51-32) managed to extend their lead over Hamilton (48-35) to 3 games. Ted Blume (.338/.463/.633, 24HR) had certainly bloomed this season. He had the fourth-best BA in the ABC, and led the league in homers, though Si-xun Qiao (.323/.391/.586, 23HR) was right in his rearview mirror. Hamilton’s Warren Gray (10-3, 1.69 ERA, 2.44 FIP, 0.89 WHIP) left the AUNZBL after the 2061 season with a 40-47 career record, having lost 15 and 14 games respectively in his final 2 seasons. He had a 37-25 record after 2 and a half seasons in the ABC and boasted the league’s best ERA, FIP, and WHIP so far this season. His 112 strikeouts placed him third on that ladder and his 10 wins tied him for second. AUNZBL Standings, Jan 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; 02-08-2018 at 02:37 PM.