[ArquimedezPozo]

337! Jason Blanche Sets New Record as Dodgers Lose to Brilliant Roman and Maple Leafs

Raul Roman pitched a gem and Toronto beat the Dodgers in the season’s penultimate game, but not one fan in attendance minded: they got to see their ace set a new NABF single-season strikeout record, eclipsing Jarrod Scott’s 333 and finishing his night with a new standard: 337 strikeouts.

Toronto ace Roman - who himself finished with 260 strikeouts, a total unthinkable in D1 until this strange year - was brilliant over his seven innings, striking out nine while walking one and giving up just four hits. He allowed just two runners to reach third - Justin Collins on a third inning triple and John Brucia after a single and a walk.

Blanche, meanwhile, labored somewhat after a long and draining season. Barry Miller got the first of three runs against him after doubling, advancing the third on a groundout, and scoring on a sac fly; the other two runs came in a tough seventh inning in which Miller took Blanche deep with a runner on. But by then, his work was finished.

Here’s a strikeout-by-strikeout look at Blanche’s record-setting night:

328: Ken Conroy strikes out swinging on a 3-2 changeup in the first inning
329: Josh Rose strikes out to end the second, swinging through a high 1-2 fastball
330: Eddie Santana goes down swinging on a cutter to lead off the fourth
331: Zach Breland takes a changeup on a 2-2 count with one out in the fourth
332: Eddie Santana strikes out for the second time in the game, looking at a fastball on the outside corner with a full count to lead off the 6th
333: Zach Breland gives Blanche a share of first place, looking at a cutter that tails back onto the outside corner for strike three, with one out in the sixth
334: Josh Rose swings through a changeup, Blanche’s signature pitch, to lead off the seventh and give Blanche the record
335: After Barry Miller’s two run homer in the seventh, Josh Gaul swings through a fastball on the outer half
336: Ken Conroy strikes out for the second time in the game, whiffing on a changeup
337: Eddie Santana collects the golden sombrero, swinging under a high heater in the 8th, Blanche’s last inning

Note: I have no real idea why 2038 became the Year of the Strikeout in D1. D1's K numbers were always very low, and I had equalized some setting or or something before the season that I realized was out of sync with other Divisions, though for the life of me I can't remember which. I had no idea it would have this sort of effect. So, I'm just going to explain it as some kind of change to the ball that D1 used or something and go with it. See the list below - 13 people broke the previous D1 record this season alone.