[Elendil]

June 2017 (cont.)

The most amazing thing about the standings is that all four teams of the East Division are outplaying all four teams of the West Division. Since the 108-game schedules are perfectly balanced, one may well wonder what the point of the divisions is. Why not one division with the top two teams going to a championship series?

Well, for one, the owners thought the two divisions would keep more fans interested in more cities. And that seemed to be right so far. Four teams were definitely in the hunt for a championship berth, and arguably as many as six - all but the hapless Rutland and Upper Valley squads.

Indeed, attendance figures suggested the league was becoming a success in most markets. Five clubs were seeing slow but steady ticket sales growth. With the tourist season in full swing and the weather now decidedly warm, there was every reason to expect a successful July.


League Leaders and Team Stats

There were several storylines to watch as the GWL season headed toward the halfway point.

Alden Carrithers of OOB, who'd been released by the Dodgers organization in late May, was flirting with a .400 batting average (.394) and .500 on-base percentage (.488).

A lot of triples were being hit - 101 in 12,495 league plate appearances to be exact. The current leader was 1B Willie Carmona of Rutland, who had five and was projected to finish with 14 in 479 PA (162-game season equivalent: 21!).

So far this looked like an incredibly hitting-dominated league, mostly because BABIP was so high (.341). League ERA was 4.72. However, home runs were low: only 156 had been hit, compared with 591 doubles.

In that context, one starting pitcher's performances to date looked really impressive. Mickey Storey of OOB had a 2.68 ERA in 50 IP with a 0.99 WHIP and 1.2 WAR (tied for the league lead). He was projected to finish with 139 IP, 6 HR, 33 BB, and 111 K's.

On the relief side, Robbie Weinhardt of Rutland had started the season with 17 scoreless innings. Could he keep it up?

LEAGUE BATTING STATS

Team R/G R G AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG OPS Old Orchard Beach Surge 6.5 255 39 1421 445 85 13 22 148 268 16 .313 .383 .438 .821 Seacoast Humpbacks 5.7 221 39 1352 378 77 17 21 153 284 15 .280 .358 .408 .766 Bangor Barons 5.3 207 39 1357 396 87 16 18 147 312 13 .292 .367 .419 .786 Plattsburgh Redbirds 4.9 191 39 1324 359 56 7 19 151 259 26 .271 .355 .367 .722 Nashua Silver Knights 4.8 188 39 1349 388 70 12 21 179 277 18 .288 .375 .404 .779 Concord Wild 4.7 182 39 1336 369 66 12 16 163 271 10 .276 .361 .379 .740 Rutland Marblebreakers 4.5 176 39 1396 369 74 14 19 122 297 24 .264 .331 .378 .709 Upper Valley Nighthawks 4.5 175 39 1369 375 76 10 20 126 312 16 .274 .341 .388 .729 TOTALS 5.1 1595 312 10904 3079 591 101 156 1189 2280 138 .282 .359 .398 .757 AVERAGE * 199 39 1363 385 74 13 20 149 285 17 * * * *

LEAGUE PITCHING STATS

Team R/G R G CG SHO SV ERA IP HA HRA BB K WHIP OAVG BABIP Old Orchard Beach Surge 3.7 146 39 1 4 9 3.52 348.0 330 17 119 294 1.29 .251 .309 Nashua Silver Knights 4.3 166 39 4 1 11 4.13 346.1 360 17 147 309 1.46 .268 .335 Concord Wild 4.3 167 39 0 1 10 3.75 348.0 354 18 123 317 1.37 .263 .329 Plattsburgh Redbirds 4.6 179 39 0 4 10 4.34 344.1 362 22 141 308 1.46 .270 .334 Seacoast Humpbacks 4.8 186 39 0 1 12 4.56 351.0 376 14 160 288 1.53 .277 .338 Bangor Barons 5.5 215 39 0 2 13 5.00 342.0 391 18 168 231 1.63 .287 .332 Rutland Marblebreakers 6.8 266 39 0 0 8 6.16 350.2 458 17 168 278 1.79 .320 .380 Upper Valley Nighthawks 6.9 270 39 0 0 7 6.33 341.0 448 33 163 255 1.79 .318 .364 TOTALS 5.1 1595 312 5 13 80 4.72 2771.1 3079 156 1189 2280 1.54 .282 .341 AVERAGE * 199 39 1 2 10 * 346 385 20 149 285 * * *