2064/2065 Season - February
Notable Performances
1 Feb: Cairns extended their 2064 record in 1-run games to 18-7 but they needed until the bottom of the 9th to win this one against Brisbane. Ronald Aitken was the man, leading off the frame with a solo jack over right. 4-3 Crocs, Aitken’s only hit of the night worth a win.
2 Feb: Gary Young won PotW for the sixth time in his career, hitting .414/.433/1.103, with 1 double, 2 triples, and 5HR in his 12-29. Young had slugged 3 homers in a game as well as hit for the cycle over the past week.
2 Feb: To celebrate his PotW award, Young hit a single in the 6th inning of Adelaide’s 5-3 win over Darwin. The hit was the 2000th of his career. The 37 y/o said, “I seem to have taken a while to get there, haven’t I?” He’d only played 150+ games in 3 seasons since his debut in 2048.
2 Feb: Kununurra looked to have this game comfortably in the bag heading into the 9th, their lead over Canberra 4 runs. Garrett Barnett led off with a double and Al Rees walked. Ralph Zglinicki struck out swinging before Jay Watts singled wide of 2B to score a run. Mitch Goddard got frozen up by a curveball to strike out, bringing Jack Pye to the plate. With the count 2-1 the 25 y/o got a fastball in his wheelhouse and sent it the distance, tying the game with a 3-run homer. Canberra’s excitement proved to shortlived, however. Jai Rowe led off the bottom of the inning and pulled the third pitch he saw into the leftfield bleachers for a walk-off homerun. Final score: 8-7 Kununurra.
2 Feb: Brisbane walloped Cairns 12-3, putting together 20 base hits in the process. Yeijiro Nishio contributed 4-5, while 4 other hitters got 3.
5 Feb: Glen Donovan joined an elite club today. In Whangarei’s 13-6 win over Newcastle, the burly DH went 2-5 with 2 runs and 8RBI. Both of those hits were homeruns and both were Grand Slams. The first was an emphatic stamp on a 9-run 2nd inning, his fly measured at 437 feet over centre. He came up again in the top of the 3rd and pulled his first pitch over right. It landed well beyond the fence, scoring a further 4. Whangarei didn’t get another runner across home-plate in the game but still cruised to a comfortable victory.
5 Feb: Auckland defeated Christchurch 7-5 without scoring more than 1 run in any given inning. They were a constant threat, putting together 17 base hits but could only put up sticks in the scoring column. Christchurch contributed 4 of their 5 runs via a single blast, Maurice Clemens clearing the bases in the 3rd with a slammer. The win pushed the Metros’ lead over the Cowboys in the NZ to 7 games.
6 Feb: Canberra beat Hobart 9-8 in 10 innings, the winning run coming in unusual circumstances. Jorge Perez reached on an error by 2B Carlos Aguilar, Aguilar’s throw sailing over the head of the 1B and into the stands. Perez ended up at 2B and headed to 3B on Warren Chapple’s deep fly-out to centre. Jay Watts was intentionally walked to set up the double-play. With the count 1-1 Mitch Goddard sent a groundball towards 2B and Perez headed for home. Inexplicably Aguilar opted to go for the fielder’s choice at home-plate rather than the double-play. The umpire called safe, much to the protestations of the catcher and Hobart’s manager, and the game was done.
“It was a brain explosion, plain and simple,” Aguilar said later. “I guess I wanted to make up for putting the guy in scoring position in the first place. I had to take a couple steps in to field the ball and I guess I thought that the time it would take me to turn, set and throw to the shortstop would mean we’d get just one out and would lose. But I’ve watched the tape now and I can see that not as much time had passed as I thought and I should’ve gone for the double-play.”
Skipper Joe Turner defended Aguilar in the postmatch presser. “Look, I’m not going to be too hard on the guy. These things happen in the heat of battle, especially when you’re a bit fatigued. It was a 50-50 decision either way. If anything I still think the call should’ve been out at home. The replays, in my opinion, show the tag to be simultaneous with Perez touching home-plate and my view is that in those situations the defence should get the call.”
Hobart had a mare in the field, committing 3 errors, with a few conspiracy-oriented talkback callers suggesting there had been some match-fixing going on.
7 Feb: Guillermo Julio rapped out 5 hits from 5 at-bats in Newcastle’s 9-3 brush-off of Whangarei. He hit a double and a homer, scoring 3 times and driving in 2. This was the fourth time the 29 y/o had collected 5 hits in a game in the majors.
7 Feb: A pair of 3-run homers in the 8th saw Christchurch leap past Auckland to an 8-6 win, thus avoiding a series whitewash. Earlier in the game, John Foreman became the first player to 30HR in 2064, hitting his third Grand Slam of the season.
8 Feb: A pair of doubles in the bottom of the 9th helped Central Coast tie up their game against Newcastle. In the bottom of the 11th Gu Luo slugged a 3-run homer to see the Thunder walk off with a 6-3 win.
8 Feb: Auckland hit 5 homeruns to 1 against Kununurra but finished on the wrong side of the win-loss column, the Pioneers scoring twice in the bottom of the 9th to be 7-6 winners.
9 Feb: Tashiaki Yano went .440/.440/.800 to win PotW.
9 Feb: Dean Ambrose’s winning streak came to a halt at 12 games. He threw 5.1 innings for 5 earned runs in Newcastle’s 6-4 loss to Central Coast.
9 Feb: Rod Bacon, back from injury, picked up the win in Darwin’s 11-inning 3-2 win over Perth. Perth didn’t score until the top of the 9th, Bacon coming out midway through the inning and conceding the game-tying run (unearned as the CF dropped a regulation fly). He got out of a jam in the 10th and cruised through the 11th. 2 walks and a single in the bottom of the inning gave Darwin the walk-off victory, Gavin Howell doing the business. The ABC import was struggling in the AUNZBL, hitting just .205 in 402PA as well as putting up a -13.5 ZR in rightfield.
12 Feb: Perth fans had every right to feel aggrieved as their team once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Up by 4 with just the final half of the 9th to play, the Heat conspired to allow Brisbane to tie the game up, the 2 walks and hit batter not helping matters one iota. Brisbane threatened in the bottom of the 10th but couldn’t win it, while Perth missed a go-ahead opportunity in the top of the 11th. They had a runner in scoring position with only 1 out again in the 12th but couldn’t convert. Bottom of the 12th and Sam Richards doubled down the 1B line with 1 away. Richards stole 3B and Anastasio Candelaria was given a free pass. Brendan Marris punched a single between 1B and 2B and Richards scooted home to see Brisbane to a 7-6 victory.
12 Feb: Whangarei’s Ashley Tillett was not a guy you wanted on the mound with the game tied in the late innings which made his role as closer a wee bit odd. He had 25 saves for the season, that was true, but he also had a loss streak going that today stretched to 10 games. He came on in the bottom of the 9th with the game tied at 3. 3 batters later and Kununurra had engineered a 4-3 victory, 25 y/o Tillett cutting an unhappy figure as he trudged off the ground. Skipper Mancio Lenihan still had confidence in his young charge, saying, “It’s all a learning curve, isn’t it, and one that will hold him in good stead in years to come.”
14 Feb: Guillermo Julio picked up 5 hits for the second time in the month. Cairns were the victims this time around and Julio wasn’t the only Roo who cashed in. He went 5-6 with 4 runs and 2RBI. Hektor Knittle went 4-5, with 3 runs and 5RBI, a pair of 2-run homers helping that latter number. The final score was 17-9, Newcastle putting 20 hits on the board. Julio’s BA jumped to second-best in the league.
14 Feb: Malcolm Pickhills bashed his 32nd homer of the season to tie John Foreman at the head of that board. The shot, a solo effort in the 6th, was also the 300th round-tripper of 33 y/o Pickhills’ big-league career. It also proved to be the difference in this game, Adelaide holding on to beat Sydney 2-1.
14 Feb: Wellington fans were delighted to see their team rise above .500, something not seen at this stage of the season since 2060. It took them 11 innings to get there, however, Javier Rodriguez delivering a walk-off homerun to help the Fury to a 6-5 win over Melbourne.
14 Feb: Christchurch pulled to within 2 of a staggering Auckland with a 7-6 10-inning win over Central Coast, their 6th win on the trot. An RBI-triple from Jesus Fuentes put the Thunder ahead in the top of the inning but the Cowboys showcased their power in the bottom of the frame. Matthew Utting led off with a game-tying homerun and Maurice Clemens followed with a game-winning one. The Cowboys had 6 players with 20+ homeruns but nobody with more than 25.
15 Feb: Central Coast stopped Christchurch’s streak with a 12-4 victory. John Zglinicki went the entire game, not allowing any runs until the bottom of the 8th. Andre Wiltshire was 2-5 with 3RBI, giving him 101 for the year. He was the first player past the 100RBI mark in 2064.
16 Feb: Beau Hauer punished AUNZBL pitching over the last week, hitting .480/.500/1.080, with 3 doubles and 4HR. This was his third PotW award in 2064. He currently led the league in SLG with a .555 mark.
17 Feb: Cairns didn’t get on the board until the 7th in the opening clash of their series with Christchurch. They were still down by 2 in the bottom of the 9th but Scott Carson had another of the wild outings that were becoming a little too familiar for Cowboys’ fans, walking 2 and balking before Miguel Ibanez sac-flied a run home. Carson hit the next batter and then watched Peter Moy sneak a single between 1B and 2B. The tying run beat out the throw home and only a sharp catch 1 batter later by 3B Matthew Utting stopped Cairns from winning it all there and then. Aaron Fingleson completed the top of the 10th in 8 pitches. Mario Correa led off the bottom of the inning with a double before Carson plunked his second batter of the night. He then fought for 9 pitches with Calvin Hodnett but Hodnett won the war, crushing a line-drive over right and into the bleachers for a walk-off 3-run homer. 7-4 Cairns, the Cowboys, in the truest baseball sense of the phrase, ‘blowing it.’
18 Feb: The Cowboys and Crocs again fought it out into extra innings, though this time Christchurch finished on top 5-2. It was Cairns who once more came from behind to tie things up, Hodnett’s 8th-inning solo homer locking the scores at 2. Neither team could mount any threats until the top of the 13th when Bryan McMullen and Tomas Zartuche both hit 1-out singles to give Christchurch the go-ahead opportunity. Lopez’s sharp liner was just as sharply speared by SS Chi-Seong Lee but late sub Luis Rios came through, spanking the first pitch he saw over the head of the RF for a 2-run triple. Next up, Lance Fookes bashed a double off the right-centre wall and the Cowboys had a 3-run buffer. Hodnett led off the bottom of the frame with a single and Michael Baker would’ve had a 2-run homer if not for Ibanez climbing the fence to haul in a fine catch. All that amounted to nought on the scoreboard, Christchurch levelling up the series.
18 Feb: Perth had scored the least runs of any AUNZBL team so far in 2064, while Canberra sat mid-table for that stat. Both teams brought plenty of offense today, however. Perth led 8-4 heading into the 9th but their bullpen, ranked 12th out of 16, let them down again. Warren Chapple slugged a 2-run homer and 3 batters later Mitch Goddard hit a 3-run effort to put Canberra up by 1. Luigi Dempster tied things back up in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot down the LF line. In the 11th Chapple got hit by a pitch with the count 3-0. He stole 2B and 2 pitches later swiped 3B before scoring when the third-baseman fluffed a grounder. The twists weren’t finished yet. Jose de la Cruz began the bottom of the inning with a well-worked walk. Paddy Faulkner lay down the sac-bunt. It looked too long and the pitcher whipped it to 2B. Cruz was adjudged safe, to the howls of the players and Canberra’s skipper, who found himself ejected from the game. Rich Downes then doubled into the RF corner to tie the game up and put Faulkner at 3B with nobody out. Dempster ground out. Hal Boxsell was intentionally walked. Seinosuke Nakashima fell behind 1-2 but then Domenic Carr threw a slider that didn’t slide. Instead it flew high over the catcher’s head and all the way to the backstop. Faulkner cruised home and Perth had won 11-10. They were the deserved winners, having put together 19 hits and 9 walks. Canberra were the unlucky losers, having made the most of their fewer scoring opportunities.
19 Feb: Tensions were running high in Game 3 of the Christchurch-Cairns series. Not just between opposing players, though there was plenty of chatter on the diamond, but also between Cowboys’ pitchers Isaac Canavan and Dan Pankhurst. Pankhurst, suited up though he wasn’t likely to pitch in the series, was helping out in the bullpen. While Canavan was warming up during the top of the 9th the pair got into a heated exchange which quickly escalated to pushes and shoves. Teammates and coaches just as quickly intervened and order was restored. Canavan came out to record the final two outs in the bottom of the 9th of a 14-9 Cowboys win. Neither player would elaborate post-match, though an anonymous source inside the camp allegedly said, “Isaac is all about Isaac and he’s been crapping on all year about how he should be the closer. Thing is, while he’s definitely a gun on the mound, off it he just can’t be bothered doing anything for anybody else, and manages to spend a lot of time pissing his fellow battery mates off. Anyway, Dan thought he’d give him some of his own back and well, things escalated. Really, it’s just a symptom of a team full of competitive guys fighting for a playoff spot. And the heat up here in Cairns probably didn’t help.”
It was a game for the long ball, Cairns hitting 3 and Christchurch 4. Barry Dean had a poor night, giving up 7 runs from 6 innings, but still came away with the win, while Kohei Kawamata was knocked out of the game after 3. Every member of Christchurch’s starting lineup, bar Rowan Kimpton, collected 2 or more hits. Kimpton’s only hit was a 3-run homer in the 1st. Hodnett had a 3-game HR streak going.
19 Feb: Kununurra put Central Coast to the sword with a 15-4 victory. Catcher Rhett Allan led the way for the Pioneers, going 3-4 with a walk, 3 runs and 4RBI. He hit a double, triple and homerun.
20 Feb: In a fitting conclusion to their series, Cairns walked off 3-2 victors over Christchurch to square it at 2-all. Felino Saturno led off the bottom of the 9th and reached base thanks to a pitch grazing his forearm. An out later Ibanez doubled deep to left-centre. 1 batter later Ronald Aitken singled over the head of 2B and Saturno scored the winning run.
20 Feb: In the longest game so far this season, Brisbane levelled the score with Wellington in the top of the 9th via a Norm Blume solo homer. 8 innings later Norm Blume put the Bandits ahead with a 3-run homer, the final score 10-7. Both teams had opportunities in the innings prior, Wellington even loading the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 16th, but tenacity kept both teams in it. The game lasted 5 hours and 19 minutes, Blume the best of the hitters with a 4-8 night, which included a double, 2 homeruns, and 5RBI.
20 Feb: It’s not often a pitcher gets tagged with a loss after going 8 innings for just 1 hit but that was exactly what happened to Whangerei’s Baskoro Subagja against Hobart. Neither team had scored through 8 and a half, and Subagja came out to begin the bottom of the 9th. John Dalton singled and Subagja was replaced by Pedro Ortega. Adam Cox flayed the second pitch of Ortega’s night deep to centre. It didn’t quite have the legs to go all the way but it went far enough for a walk-off double. The Sluggers put together 9 hits and 2 walks but didn’t trouble the scorers, the middle of their lineup having a poor night.
21 Feb: Norm Blume was once again the star for Brisbane, this time in a much lower-scoring contest against Canberra. With the scores knotted at 1, Blume strode to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the 9th. The 2-2 pitch was a cut fastball low in the zone but Blume didn’t miss, getting underneath it and sending it 434 feet over centre. 2-1 walk-off win to Brisbane, their lead in the East-West steady at 4 games.
23 Feb: Axel Nankervis won PotW. The Sydney 2B hit .520/.556/.840, with 2 doubles and 2HR among his 13 hits.
23 Feb: Christchurch got back to winning ways but had to work hard to do so. The scores were tied at 4 after 9, Melbourne’s Ethan Humphries throwing all 9 innings, allowing Christchurch across home-plate in just 1, the 6th. Neither side got a further baserunner until Maurice Clemens’ 2-out single in the bottom of the 12th. Lopez also managed a 2-out single in the 13th but Melbourne weren’t even looking like getting anybody on. As it turned out, the win came in the 14th without a base hit. With 1 out Rowan Kimpton made 2B off a nubber when the catcher’s throw to 1B sailed into the RF corner. Matthew Utting was walked to set up the double-play but pitcher Tadiyuki Okubo, into his 3rd inning, was struggling to find the plate. Clemens walked on 4 pitches. Wes Corless slapped his 2-0 pitch towards 2B. The throw home was in time and the Cowboys had 1 out in the inning left. Bryan McMullen watched 4 pitches go past. 3 balls, 1 strike. He fouled off the next. The 3-2 was high and the winning run walked home. 5-4 Cowboys to keep them in a tie for the second wildcard slot and within touch (4 games) of Auckland in the NZ.
24 Feb: Austin Susumna cruised to a 4-0 victory over Darwin. The mid-rotation Auckland starter conceded only 4 hits while walking 1 and punching out 8. The 26 y/o had moved into the rotation in November. This was his 17th start in the majors.
25 Feb: Terence Stuart went 5-5 to pace Brisbane to a 12-6 win over Newcastle. His 5-for included a triple. He also scored 5 runs. The Bandits put together 20 base-hits in the win, while Newcastle scored their 6 runs off just 8 hits and 3 walks.
25 Feb: Canberra rode all over the Blue Sox, defeating them 17-4. It was a team effort, with 4 players getting 3 hits and a further 3 collecting 2. Of their 20 hits, 14 were singles.
26 Feb: Brisbane made this one look like less of a contest than it was with an 8-run 9th to beat Newcastle 15-7. Domenic Cook went 3-4 with 2 homeruns while Tashiaki Yano was 1-4 with 1HR, both players finishing the day on 35 dingers, 1 shy of Malcolm Pickhills. Cook had hit 11 homers in February with 2 days still to play.
26 Feb: The offense that had been lacking league-wide for most of the season looked to have returned in February. Sydney and Canberra scored 26 runs between them, Canberra storming back in the bottom of the 9th to win 15-11. They started the inning 4 runs behind and got those runs back with only 1 out recorded. An intentional walk and an infield single later saw Jorge Perez at the plate and he smoked the first pitch of his at-bat deep over left for a walk-off Grand Slam. Despite the carnage only Perez managed 3 hits, finishing with 3-6.
27 Feb: Glen Donovan hit his 3rd Grand Slam of the month, this one coming in the 9th inning to seal a 9-4 Whangarei win over Darwin.
28 Feb: Adelaide rattled Central Coast 15-5, doing so on the back of 23 base hits. Astoundingly, only 1 homer was hit in the game, by Adelaide’s Ben Murphy. Everybody in the Adelaide lineup got at least 2 hits, with 5 hitters having a 3-hit night.
28 Feb: Canberra scored 15+ runs for the third game out of their last four, demolishing Sydney 15-4. Sydney’s pitchers struggled for control, walking 10 hitters on top of 14 hits.
Notable Injuries
13 Feb: Melbourne closer Oliwa Lomu (2-4, 34 sv, 3.78 ERA) was done for the regular season with a strained hammy. With an estimated recovery time of 8 weeks, Lomu might be available for the last act of the playoffs, were the Aces to make it that far.
14 Feb: Carlos Aguilar (.316/.417/.373, 1HR) would be out for about a month with a torn meniscus.
14 Feb: The Fury’s Alejandro Valentin (6-9, 4.19 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) would spend the majority of the offseason recovering from surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. When interviewed about the injury he said, only half-jokingly, “Maybe I should just retire now so I can get a fresh elbow.” AUNZBL regulations then, as they still are now, stated that players could only play with the bodies that they were born with. No replacements or enhancements allowed, with the testing for these just as rigorous as for PEDs.
15 Feb: Gordon Ladds (.273/.392/.401, 11HR) wasn’t likely to be back this season. He had a biceps strain.
18 Feb: 2063 #1 overall draft pick Vinnie Hanscombe (.286/.319/.448, 3HR from 113PA) had gotten his call-up to the bigs in the latter part of January. He’d started consistently at SS since then, even if most pundits thought he should transition to 1B or DH as soon as possible. He was off to the DL now with a quad strain. He might be back for the final few games of the regular season and he might not.
19 Feb: Central Coast, 4 games back in the East-West (tied with Kununurra) and 1 game outside the second wildcard slot, would not be able to call on the services of Luis Nunez (8-7, 3.98 ERA, 4.80 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) for the rest of the season. Nunez had strained his forearm.
20 Feb: Marty Okolita (2-2, 3.25 ERA, 4.73 FIP, 1.06 WHIP from 7 starts) had made his way back to the bigs after his torn labrum but looked less than a shadow of his former self. His fastball had fallen from 160 km/h to barely reaching 143 km/h and the rest of his pitches had similarly declined. He was also struggling to hit his spots and observers noted he looked ‘almost scared’ on the mound. At any rate, he was back off to the DL with shoulder inflammation. Would the 35 y/o be able to make it back from this latest injury? Only time would tell.
22 Feb: The Diggers, 3 games back in the wildcard, would be without Roderick Beresford (14-8, 3.79 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.19 WHIP) for a handful of starts just when they most needed him. Their ace had suffered a rotator cuff strain and was likely to be out at least 3 weeks.
Notable Trades/Signings
9 Feb: Brisbane moved to buy out 27 y/o Matt Mulholland’s arbitration time with a 4-year extension. The 6’11” pitcher was 11-5 on the season, with a 3.41 ERA, 4.47 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP in 2064. For his career he was 29-22, with a 3.99 ERA, 4.46 FIP, and 1.27 WHIP. Known as a guy who might hide lizards in teammates batting gloves, Mulholland still hadn’t got used to speaking to media, saying briefly (ums excluded from quote), “Yeah, just stoked to know that I’m good enough to play at this level. Hope I’m here a while yet.”
Month Awards
Rookie of the Month: 26 y/o Jayden Koka had been a March call-up in 2060, 2061, and 2063, though his sole appearance in 2063 was as a late-innings defensive sub. The 3B was getting more playing time in the majors this season, and did enough in February to win RotM. In 25 games he hit .321/.357/.523, 35-109, with 11 runs, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 3HR, 26RBI, 5 walks, and 4 stolen bases. In 56 games for the season he’d put up a 2.8 WAR and a 135 OPS+.
Hurler of the Month: For the second month in a row, a reliever was adjudged the best pitcher in the league. Brisbane’s 26 y/o closer, Tai hoi Kao, had a superb month, putting together a 1-0, 9 save record from 13 appearances. His ERA was a miserly 0.60, his FIP an equally stingy 1.95, and his WHIP 1.07. He threw 15 innings, fanning 24 hitters at a K/9 of 14.4. Kao was in his rookie year, having not been called up to the majors until the end of October. Still, he’d managed to put together a 4-4, 29 save record from 56 games, his coaches saying he could still improve his 160 km/h fastball some more, and might even be in the running for Rookie of the Year honours.
Slugger of the Month: SotM could have gone to any one of several Bandits hitters who tore up the league in February. Norm Blume got the nod, putting aside several quiet months to have a monster 28 days. He hit .391/.426/.755, 43-110, with 21 runs, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 9HR, 28RBI, and 7BB. 2064 was still tracking to be his least productive full season in the majors but if he kept this form up through the final stretches and into the postseason Brisbane might seriously challenge for the title. While Blume was contracted with Brisbane until the end of 2065, next season was a player option and rumour had begun circulating that he’d exercise that option to test his market value.
Media Watch
Marcos Lopez: Hit .271/.375/.385 in February, his 26 hits including just 5 doubles and 2HR. Still, he drew 15 walks, his experience at the plate paying off even if his swing wasn’t so hot. It looked as if he’d fall short of 200 hits and he might well miss out on 30HR too. Even so, this was a season most 40 year-olds would be proud of and one that was already better than his last season.
Other Notes
Coastal Division: Cairns (12-14) dipped in Killer Feb, the Venom (15-11) reducing their deficit by 3 games to be 9 back heading into the final stretch. Darwin (12-14) also sagged, finishing the month at an even .500, still 15 games in arrears.
East-West Division: Brisbane (18-8) pushed the pedal to the metal, surging away from Central Coast (13-13) to lead by 5 games. Kununurra (15-11) sat a further game back, pressuring for a wildcard spot. Newcastle (11-15) fell below .500, much to the disappointment of their fans.
NZ Division: Auckland (12-14) also faltered in the heat, allowing Christchurch (15-11) to pull within 3. Wellington (14-12) finished the month at .500.
Southern Division: Melbourne (15-11) doubled their lead over Canberra (12-14), who finished the month 6 games below .500.
Wildcard: This was a tense, multi-faceted race. Adelaide held the first slot with a 2-game buffer, though they’d be painfully aware that if they struggled in March it was entirely possible they’d miss out on the postseason entirely. Central Coast and Christchurch were tied for the second slot, while Kununurra lurked just 1 game back. Darwin and Wellington still had an outside chance, 5 games in arrears.
#
The batting leaderboards continued to be full of different faces.
Edgardo Rico (.347/.372/.418, 0HR) remained the batting leader, though Andre Wiltshire (.346/.419/.540, 24HR) had surged to be within 1 point, and had even led for a couple days during the month.
Wiltshire did lead the league in hits (187), RBI (111 - tied), runs (104), and wOBA (.409).
Tied with Wiltshire for the RBI lead was Brisbane’s Tashiaki Yano (.311/.343/.555, 36HR). Yano also had the most bases of any hitter, with 318.
Yano’s 36 homeruns gave him a share of that leaderboard alongside Malcolm Pickhills (.254/.345/.525, 36HR).
Beau Hauer (.333/.392/.581, 29HR) topped the league in SLG and OPS.
Ronald Aitken (.303/.423/.533, 26HR) led in OBP and walks (103). He needed 8 runs to achieve the runs-walks double-double.
Domenic Cook (.274/.345/.551, 35HR) had the best WAR of any hitter (5.5) and had the most extra-base hits (67).
Todd Fisher (.258/.303/.384, 8HR) had 42 doubles, 6 more than any other hitter.
Julio Salazar (.289/.335/.420, 11HR) had nicked 45 bases, top of the field.
John Dalton (.261/.372/.545, 30HR) had the best isolated power, with a .284 mark.
Dean Ambrose (16-6, 4.37 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 1.36 WHIP) and Teddy Wigley (16-11, 3.76 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.41 WHIP) shared the league lead in wins.
Tristan Stobbie (11-7, 2.52 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) was the only qualified starting pitcher with an ERA under 3.00.
Barry Dean (15-9, 3.79 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 1.21 WHIP) had battled his way to third-equal on the wins ladder. He was league leader in FIP, Ks (194), K/9 (8.85), and WAR (5.5).
Domenic Jones (12-8, 3.55 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) led the league in WHIP.
Moeaktola Liao had a 1-save lead over the rest of the closer pack. He had 38 so far.
ABC Wrap-up
Brisbane (73-64) maintained their 7-game lead in the Northern, none of the other teams playing above .500.
Sydney (96-41) nearly made it 100 wins by the end of February. As it was, the division title was all theirs as was the title of ‘favourite’ heading into the postseason.
Perth (77-59) extended their lead over Kalgoorlie (73-64) to 4 1/2 games.
Jakarta (84-53) kept distance between themselves and Hamilton (73-64) but couldn’t push their lead any further.
Ted Blume (.346/.470/.642, 38HR) was a hot shot for a Triple Crown. Not only did he lead in those 3 major categories, he also had the best OBP, SLG, OPS, wOBA (.471), ISO (.296), and WAR (8.0). He also led in runs (103), hits (174), RBI (114), XBH (73), and TB (323). He’d won 4 of a possible 5 monthly hitting awards.
Bronson Dean (17-7, 2.36 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.00 WHIP) broke through the 200 strikeout mark during the month, finishing with 202. He was also tied for most wins, and was well up the leaderboard in every other major category.
Both Blume and Dean were ‘home grown’ ABC talents, a fact much trumpeted by the league’s governing body.
AUNZBL Standings, Nov 1