New Fictional League.... Baseball League of America (BLA)

[Boll Weevil]

First off thanks to all 13 of you who voted in my one day poll to help me choose the team I should take over. Detroit Roughnecks were the happy winners.

Currently this is a 16 team league in 2 8 team divisions. I have financials on (20 mil max) and I changed the waiver wire to 5 days. Other than that all is pretty close to default. I am playing a 156 game schedule. All ratings are off, only stars available.

My team currently has 0 money available so that is one obstacle to overcome. We were 79-77 last year and finished in 3rd 13 games back. Detroit is the only team to not make the World Championship Series (31 years simmed so to this point to build a history). League started in 1901, about to be 1932. To fill out my 16 teams I randomized the cities and then looked over the logo threads to look for good nicknames and logos (thanks for the ideas) and I also looked at Logoserver for other ideas of nicknames. Hopefully some of you find this thread at least half as enjoyable as I find many of the others on here. I figured it would be a great way to learn my league by relaying it all to you. Without further ado, here is the BLA

In the Continental league (champ record)
Albuquerque Isotopes (1-0) Won this current year.
Bakersfield Blaze (2-1)
Cincinnati Valley Cats (0-1)
Dayton Dragons (3-1)
Jacksonville Diamond Jaxx (2-2)
Las Vegas Stars (1-5)
Louisville Sluggers (6-4)
St Louis Gold Sox (0-2)

In the Federal League
Dallas Lawmen (2-0)
Denver Diablos (3-2) Lost this year.
Detroit Rouchnecks (0-0)
Miami Tidecats (5-6)
New York Ambassadors (0-1)
Orlando Miracle (0-2)
Phoenix Firebirds (1-1)
San Diego Breakers (5-3)

I will update my team tomorrow. Again with no money available for free agents, there will be little movement this year. But one quick thing I need to share about a pitcher on my team.

Before I took over the team the cpu signed a 33 yo SP Barney Cordova to a 3 year ext. worth 6.5 per. Not a bad sign in my opinion, 15-9 3.12 this year that just finished and 13-11 3.50 the year prior. But here is the odd thing..... 0 HR given up. 1881 batters in 2 years and not one HR given up!! 444 IP. Crazy. He even hit a HR this year so in a full year he hit more than he gave up!!!

[Boll Weevil]

Alright, here is my end of year, pre offseason pitching staff. Again, it looks like there will be a minimum of movement due to my financial situation.

Starters

Richard Davis, 30 y/o, 16-8 last year but had a 4.14 era. Only making a million and has 2 years left. Has a high WHIP 1.32 but seems to have been getting the run support he needs to win games.

Barney Cordova, 33, 15-9 3.12 and like I said in the last post, has a TREMENDOUS streak of time without giving up a HR. I only wish I knew how long the streak really was. I will keep an eye on it this year.

Kevin Chambers, 31, 13-11 3.95. A late bloomer, only his 3rd year as a full time starter and only his 2nd year tossing more than 200 innings. He went 11-16 with a 4.67 era the year before so hopefully this year was not a fluke.

Blake Everett, 37, 7-17 4.51. Blake was picked off in the offseason last year off of waivers. Signed for one more year at 2.2 mil so could very well be a candidate of budget moves if needed. A career .500 pitcher (95-100)

Gregory Volkman, 39, 11-12 4.92, a life long Roughneck and crowd favorite. A career 150-162 pitcher and 2-time all-star with the last appearance being 1927. (currently end of 1931)

Relievers

Arthur Freshour, 27, 3-11 32sv 3.29. My closer. Seems pretty solid, will keep the job as long as I can afford him. Currently making the league minimum and had 7 blown saves this year.

Bill Rish, 34, 0-3 3.09. A 3.5 star performer that was picked up off of waivers in 1930. Never got a legit shot anywhere until he was picked up here and has done alright it seems.

Justin Bozarth, 31, 5-3 1 sv 4.02 a 1.52 WHIP which concerns me a little and he will be kept under a watchful eye this year to see how he does this year.

James Bernardini, 27, 3-2 3sv 2.95 era. Only pitched 40 innings in the year but seems to be pretty solid.

Donald Gebhart, 27, a starting pitcher by trade, but a reliever on this team this past year. Only pitched 9 innings and was a little shaky. I have no idea the retirement ideas of my older starters so it's possible I may have to throw him into the rotation come April. I hope not.

On the farm .....
In AAA all the pitchers are 28 or older and 1 star. I have a couple of SP's that intrigue me a little. John Dice 33, Mark Batiste 30, both have WHIPs around 1.1 in AAA. Lorenzo Waterhouse 29 and a MR. Another person who could garner a look if someone doesn't come through.
AA - Gary 'Big Stud' Maillet, 21 is the # 3 prospect in the system and #5 in the league. He went 16-7 with a 2.46 and a 1.05 whip. I will probably start him off at AAA next year. #2 pick in this years draft. Also the #1 player in the system and league is in AA. Clement Jarboe. I rec'd him in a trade in last year from Miami for a 2B. No idea how good the 2B is yet. He was the #3 pick in 1930. James Tignor 23 and Augustin Spates 24 are two MR prospects worth watching, both will most likely move to AAA next year.
A - Robert Gray 23, and Kurt Lowe 18 the 3rd and 7th round picks in this last draft had great years at A ball.

One disheartening thing.... Detroit had the #5 pick in the 1930 draft and picked Brady Beckles a SP and then traded him for a RF. The RF batted 250 with 9 hrs for the parent club this year. Not sure if I like that but at least I was able to get Jarboe to make up for it.

[Boll Weevil]

Fielders

Catcher
Harold Fox, 37, .288-6-65 last year. Ended the year on the DL with a broken hand and is nearing the end of the line. Hopefully he has 1 more year in him because there is NOTHING else in the organization to help him.

Jason Sin, 28 has held the backup job the last 3 years but isn't much of a hitter. 199, 233, 196 are his last 3 years averages.
Mark Olivier and William Jackson are both 1 star players as well who can't seem to 'hit em where they ain't'. I'll probably jump on the first decent catcher on the waiver wire if I can afford to.

First Base
Joshua 'Trap Door' Scurry, 39, 331-39-105. He was just resigned to a 1 year deal so it seems he will give it a go one last time. An 8 time all-star and a 9 time Outstanding Batter winner. He is a legend # 1 all time in HR (671), # 5 with a .320 average. #6 with 1633 RBI.

Billy Sprouse, 31, .315-0-22. A decent hitter usually flirting with .300. Started for a couple of years before he got picked up off of waivers by Detroit. Seems like a really good defensive player no errors last year and only 2 the year before.

Mark Hall is a 30 year old option sitting in AAA. Also in the minors is the #2 prospect on the team and League in 21 year old Timothy Crepeau. He had .285-14-57 in AA this past year. Most likely will start there for one more year. I have 2 more 21y/o and a 25 year old in the minors. None seem to be of any major talent, 2 1 star prospects and 1 2 star.

Second Base
I have 15 people who can play second in the organization. The incumbent who has a lock on the job is....
Leslie Aaron, 29, .312-24-98. A gold glove winner this past year. He is signed through '35 and is one of the better players on the team. Cornerstone of the team for the future.

Joseph Paige, 30, .163-2-13, can play 2B and CF. Started 3 years ago and had a decent year (.264-12-73) so hopefully he can regain that form.

Bernard Blanc is a 30 y/o career minor leaguer and the last 5 years between AA and AAA he has had 5 straight years of 23 or more HRs. He does not strike out too often for that pop (about 70 times a year) and can play RF as well. I might see if there is a spot for him to try and get some time with the parent club. Other than this guy there is not too much in the way of primary 2B in the minors. James Cabello is a 20 year old who is currently at AAA but probably needs to be at AA next year.

Third Base
Johnson O'Brien, 32, .293-9-51. Not worth the 9 million a year I am paying him, so I might try to unload him if there seems to be a viable replacement plan or if the season starts to go south.

Bill Daggett, 34, .200-1-6, a decent backup option. A great glove but little else.

William Drysdale, 26, .306-13.68 in AA last year. Can play 1B, 2B and 3B. Will be at AAA this year.

Shortstop
Kenton 'The Ghoul' Smith, 23, .286-10-45. Gold Glove winner this year. Kenton was the #1 pick in the 1928 draft. He seems to be another person to build this team around. This will be his third year as the starter and he seems to have a long and great career ahead of him.

Dennis Jackman, 27, .217-0-4. A backup and most likely will not be on the team next year in this role, might keep him at AAA for insurance but we will see.

Lucius Ranney, 23, is a decent option in the minors to keep an eye on. Again with The Ghoul patrolling the Roughneck field already we don't need a major contributor just someone to take a few innings when Kenton needs a break.

Outfield
Michael Price, 34, .294-35-121. Newcomer of the year 1921. 2 gold gloves in LF and a 6 time all-star. He seems to be a lock for LF for as long as I have him.

David 'No Neck' Tuma, 38, .284-4-67. No Neck is getting on in years and I am not sure if he will be around or retired next year. If he is back, he will be a starter, hopefully in right, but it might have to be center. He can play all three spots still, but is probably better suited for a corner spot.

Archie Chapman, 32, .250-9-55. This is the infamous man that was traded for the stud youngster pitcher Brady Beckles this year. He currently looks like the lock for RF. He also can play all three spots, so I might look at the benefit of moving him to center if it would be better for No Neck.

Jeffrey Knight, 27, .270-2-13. Jeffrey can play Left and Center and had 130 at bats this year. This is the highest of the non-starters. Only 166 career ABs so we will see if he sticks around this year.

Robert Daughtrey, 22, is a 2.5 star prospect in A ball right now. He and James Murray a 23 year old who will be at AA next year seems to be the only marginal candidates in the minors right now. Everyone else is 1 star gold or blue.

[Boll Weevil]

OK so I am unsure how, but I ended up with 4.5 mil to play with. I did not do much at all as a lot of my position players are set for this year, and I do not want to spend it all this year when I can possibly bank it and start to right the financial ruin my team is in.

I signed a marginal SP Nolan Peters, 34, to a 300,000 1 year deal. He went 1-1 in 16 IP, 2 games last year. He had one year in 1926 as a full time starter and went 7-20. He has been quite good in AAA the past few years so I will give him a shot to maybe be a long reliever or be at AAA and ready to move up if someone falters.

In the draft, I spent my first round draft choice on LF John Levy. He seemed the best bat available and I didn't want to spend my #1 pick on the best player left a 3 star MR.
2nd Round MR Kenneth Lockard
3rd Round C Emmitt Herb
4th Round SP Bill Duquette
5th Round OF Leo Dexter
6th Round CL Edward Negri
7th Round MR Edward Kerber

I also just put a claim in on Richard Viola a 3 star MR on Phoenix. Last year he went 1-0 in 17 IP with a 3.06 ERA. Hopefully he joins my team soon.

Tomorrow..... opening day and hopefully I get close to a month done.

[Boll Weevil]

Opening Day Roster
Rotation
Cordova
Chambers
Davis
Everett
Volkman

Bullpen
Freshour (closer)
Bernardini
Bozarth
Rish
Waterhouse (AAA last year)
Nolan Peters (FA pickup, can start)

Catchers
Fox
Sin

Infield
Scurry (1b)
Sprouse (1b)
Aaron (2b)
Blanc (2b-rf)
O'Brien (3b)
Daggett (3b-2b)
Smith (ss)
Jackman (ss)

Outfield
Price (lf)
Tuma (cf)
Chapman (rf)
Knight (lf-cf)

I also received word that Volkman, Tuma and the Legend Scurry will all retire after this year.


Opening Day
Roughnecks 11, Diablos 0. Detroit jumps all over the defending Federal League champs from the start with a 5 run first. Barney Cordova pitches a masterpiece and goes the distance allowing 4 hits. Only 3 extra base hits, all doubles, 1 by Tuma and 2 by Champman. 7 starters all had 2 or 3 hits. The lone fielder without was Leslie Aaron and he only batted 2 times before being pulled. The Ghoul went 3-3 with 3 runs and 1 RBI. RF Chapman went 3-5 3 RBI. CF Tuma went 2-2 2 runs and 3 RBI.

Game 2
Rouchnecks 5, Diablos 4. A sold out house at Devils Den Field saw closer Arthur Freshour overcame a shaky 9th in which he allowed 2 runs and held on for save number 1 of the season. Trap Door hit his first home run of the year and # 672 of his career. We will hopefully see many more as he extends his career record. Kevin Chambers pitched a great game and went 8 innings giving up 2. Trap Door also extends a hitting streak to 18 games.

Game 3
Diablos 5, Roughnecks 4. Denver was able to salvage something from this series in this last game. We took a 4-1 lead to the bottom of the 6th and couldn't hold on as Richard Davis ended up giving up 5 in 7 innings work. Richard Davis gave up 8 walks! and 7 hits in his 7 innings of duty. Justin Bozarth pitched the 8th to finish up and escaped damage. Trap Door got another hit. Leslie Aaron hit a 2 run shot in the 6th for his first home run of the year.

[Boll Weevil]

Game 4 - HOME OPENER
The Dallas Lawmen came into a near sold out Detroit Stadium and it was a real slugfest as Detroit won 11-9. Trap Door got his hit to extend the streak to 20. The Ghoul when 3-5 with 2 triples. Smith, Scurry, O'Brien and Price all drove in 2 runs. The starting pitcher of the day even helped himself going 2-3 with a run and RBI. Blake Everett did not do so hot on the mound though giving up 8 runs, 5 earned along with 12 hits in 6.2 innings. Nolan Peters came in and pitched a great 1.1 innings to get the W, and Freshour gave up a 9th inning solo shot to 3B Keith Griego but held on for save # 2.

Game 5 - Lose in 10, 7-6. Volkman gave up 3 unearned in 7 with 12 hits. Bozarth imploded on the mound giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in .2 innings. And Freshour ended the misery by giving up an unearned run in the 10th. Joshua Scurry and Kenton Smith each hit Home Runs and drove in 2. Streak is now at 21 which is a career high.

Game 6 - Lawmen 9, Roughnecks 6. Cordova gave up 4 in 6 innings. The only home run given up was in the 7th vs Whitehouse, who got the loss. A shaky first appearance for him. Trap Door hits another home run. RF Archie Chapman got injured but it's minor and is day to day.

Game 7 - Roughnecks 11, Firebirds 3. Detroit made themselves feel welcome at the Nest today. Kevin Chambers went the distance and struck out 11. Backup catched Jason Sin 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Scurry got another hit. Leslie Aaron went 4-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. Michael Price hit HR # 1 this year.

Game 8 - Roughnecks 3, Firebirds 0. Shutout # 2 of the season. This time it is Richard Davis going 8 and Arthur Freshour pitching a clean 9th to get the 3rd save of the year. Trap Door goes ofer and has his streak snapped at 23.

Game 9 - Roughnecks 7, Firebirds 3. The sweep is completed. Blake Everett goes the distance and gets the win. Bobby Blanc has been filling in nicely in RF going 2-3 with 2 RBI. Leslie Aaron went 3-4 with 2 RBI on a 2 run homer his 2nd of the year. Detroit has an off day before hosting the Diablos.

[Boll Weevil]

Game 10 - Diablos 2, Roughnecks 1. After the day off, it looks like the team might need another as we play 15. Barney Cordova goes 8 innnings giving up 1. In three starts he is 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA. Bill Rish got the L as he walked 2 and gave up a hit in the 15th. Kenton Smith went 3-6.

Game 11 - Diablos 4, Roughnecks 3. The bullpen does it again! Arthur Freshour gives up 2 in the top of the 9th to blow the save and earn the L. He is currently 0-2, 4.50. Kevin Chambers gave up 2 in 8 innings and struck out 11. He is 2-0, 2.52. Michael Price went 1-2 with 2 walks and a run/RBI.

Game 12 - Diablos 4, Roughnecks 3. Denver gets the sweep. Richard Davis walks 6 in 8 innings and gives up 2 runs. Lorenzo Whitehouse gives up a walk to start the ninth and is pulled and that runner comes around to break the 2-2 tie and earn him the Loss. Billy Sprouse giving Trap Door a day off goes 2-3. We are now 6-6 and 4 games back of League Leading New York. Denver is in 2nd and 2 games back.

Game 13 - Lawmen 3, Roughnecks 2. After a day off we head to the Big House and fall short and lose our 4th in a row. Blake Everett goes the distance and gives up 3 earned runs, 8 hits while striking out 6. He is currently 1-1, 4.18. Johnson O'Brien and Leslie Aaron each hit solo shots.

Game 14 - Lawmen 6, Roughnecks 4 in 10. Barney Cordova again gets a no decision as he goes 8 giving up 4 runs and 10 hits. Lorenzo Whitehouse again faces 2 batters, gives up a hit and gets the other guy out and then Arthur Freshour comes in and retires the side in the 9th only to give up a 2 run blast in the 10th. He is now 0-3.

Game 15 - Roughnecks 8, Lawmen 3. We finally win a game and end our 5 game losing streak. Kevin Chambers throws 144 pitches in 8.2 innings and needs Nolan Peters to come in and get the last man out. Kevin struck out 7. Michael Price goes 2-5 with 3 RBI as he hits his 2nd HR of the year.

Now as I hit the 1/10 pole of the race I will give a quick team report on my team as well as three others. That will allow for 1/4 of the Association to be familiar to us. I will follow that with a minors report and then the next break I will only do 2 teams instead of 3.

[Boll Weevil]

Let's start in the Continental League with the 11-5 League Leading Las Vegas Stars. They have won 7 in a row. As stated before this team is 1-5 in Championship Series. They have an 85 million dollar payroll and a 99 for fan interest. They are in the top 3 in all pitching categories except for walks allowed where they are 14th. Their pitching staff is led by Jason Fisher a 31 year old, 4-time all-star who has an 88-50 career mark. He is currently 2-0 with a 1.65 which is among the leaders. So is his 30 strikeouts so far. Another star pitcher for the Stars is Timothy Phillip, 29 who leads the league in K's with 33. He is a 3-time all-star with a 99-48 career mark and no signs of slowing down. He is also a 3 time outstanding pitcher award winner. RF Tommy Madruga 28, is a 3 time all-star who leads the league in RBI with 16. He is currently batting .283 with 3 homers. Also leading the way is C Brandon Dufresne, 30 .290-4-15. 40 year old First Bsemen Justin Brinzendine is a career .317 batter and 7 time all star and he is leading the team with a .338 average so far. 'Dr. Destiny' Schirmer a 31 year old Shortstop is right behind him at .327.

Next up is the 2nd place team the Albuquerque Isotopes. They are currently 10-6 and 1 game back of the Stars. A 91 million dollar payroll which is 2nd highest and a fan interest of 81 is spurring on this club. Last year was their first ever playoff appearance and they won it all. Offensively the Isotopes are led by their 30 year old catcher, Fats Newby. Fats is 2nd in the league with 5 HR's and is batting .357. He is a 6-time all-star and an Isotope fan favorite after being picked up on waivers in 1924. RF Alan Wilkins, 33, .338-2-13 and 39 y/o SS Ronald Doiron .352-2-9 are also leading the charge for the best hitting team in the Association. 28 year old SP Brian Johnson has a career 62-29 record and is a 2-time all-star and is on track again with a 4-0 1.01 start. His right hand man James Howard, 37, 3-1 2.97 is helping pick up the slack as well.

Now in the Federal League, the Associations current best record at 13-2 is the New York Ambassadors. They have the top two HR hitters so far in 1B Joseph 'Automatic' Lee, 34, 333-6-10 and RF Leonard 'Dark Horse' Tooley, 33, .358-5-10. C, 38, Kirk Clabaugh also helps out as he is batting .353-2-9. They have 4 pitchers who are 2-0 but the best of the bunch seems to be 1-1 1.99, 30 year old Chris Cobb. 41 year old James Prue a 8 time all-star and 1 time pitching award winner is 2-0 3.46 and 31 year old George Kelley is 2-0 3.43 so far. It does not look like this pitching will hold up throughout the year. New York has an 83 for fan interest and also has a 91 million dollar payroll that ranks 3rd.

And now a Roughneck update. Currently 6-8 and 6 games back of New York. Leslie Aaron leads the team in batting and runs with .418-3-9 and 15 runs. The Ghoul is .361-1-6 with 6 steals. Trap Door is .283-3-14. The only disappointments so far are my starting catcher .224-0-3 and RF Archie Chapman .238-0-8. As far as pitching goes.... well as you know my starters are doing quite well. My bullpen, no so much. Leading the charge is Kevin Chambers who is 3-0 2.67 and leads the league in wins and k's with 35. Arthur Freshour is 0-3 with 3 sv and 5.58 ERA. I hope he starts to settle down. Lorenzo Whitehouse is another iffy pitcher who is 0-2 20.26 in 1.1 IP. Hopefully he gaines some confidence as he pitches more and more (yikes).

Down on the farm......
Kalamazoo (AAA) - The leading candidate for a call up is 31 year old catcher Mark Olivier .333-5-14. Also doing well is Joseph Paige 30 year old 2B .362-2-11, LF Buster Retzlaff, 27, .320-2-4 and LF, 34, Garry Branch .318-3-6. 2 pitchers worth monitoring 33, John Dice, 3-1 1.02 and Donald Gebhardt, 28, 2-1 1.19. Gary Maillet is 2-1 so far with 2.52 but has given up a lot of hits and walks for his innings. But so far AAA looks like a good start for him.

Flint (AA) - 22 year old Clement Jarboe is close to being ready for AAA according to the scout. Clement is 1-2 4.64 but has 30 hits allowed in 33 IP and a 7-29 BB/K ratio. Also pitching well is 27 year old Dean Cartagena 2-1 2.82. 10 HA in 22 IP. 28, LF, Jesse Gains .340-3-9 is leading the way.

Livonia (A) - 18 year old Kurt Lowe, is having another good season so far 2-1 2.91. As is 24, Rober Bonk 2-1 2.35. This years pitching draft class is starting slow with the exception of closer Edward Negri 0-1 4 sv, 1.69 and only 18 years old. No batter is really making a mark right now either. First round pick LF John Levy .246-1-7 and a 1-16 BB/K ratio needs some plate discipline if he wants to make something of himself.

[Boll Weevil]

Game 16 - Breakers 10, Roughnecks 3. Michael Price was the lone major bright spot as he hit home run # 3 of the year. 2-4 2 RBI. Richard Davis stunk in this start as he gave up 10 runs, 6 earned in 6.1. A minor bright spot was the flawless pitching performances of Lorenzo Whitehouse and Justin Bozarth. Lorenzo went .2 of an inning and lowered his ERA to 13.50.

Game 17 - Breakers 8, Roughnecks 2. We ran into a buzz saw and his name was Edwin Tunstall. Edwin is now 2-0 as he went 8 innings and 9 k's. Gregory Volkman had his 2nd start and it wasn't too pretty. He gave up 6 earned runs in 6.2 innings. Jeffrey Knight hit his first Home Run as David Tuma took a night off from patrolling centerfield. Justin Bozarth is back up to his old tricks giving up 2 runs in 2 innings of relief.

Game 18 - Breakers 9, Roughnecks 2. San Diego gets the sweep and we fall to a league low 1-8 at home!! Ouch! Blake Everett gave up 4 runs in 7 innings. Bill Rish didn't help out giving up 5 runs in 1.1 innings, 4 were earned. Michael Price and Archie Chapman both went 2-4. Junior Austin wins game # 300 for his career.

Game 19 - Roughnecks 5, Tidecats 0. Road, Sweet, Road. Nothing like going on the road to get back on track. Also, it doesn't hurt to put Barney Cordova on the mound. He goes the distance again and gets shutout # 2 of the year, allowing 6 hits and striking out just as many. Michael Price hits home run # 4 and drives in 3 runs to give Barney all the offense he needs.

Game 20 - Tidecats 9, Roughnecks 3. Well, it was bound to happen sometime this year and this was it. Kevin Chambers and his great start came crashing to a halt when he got rocked for 6 runs all earned in 2.2 innings. He falls to 3-1. Joshua Scurry goes 1-4 with a 3 run home run his 4th of the year. Steven Schmidt goes the distance and gets the win for Miami at Tidecat Park.

Game 21 - Roughnecks 7, Tidecats 6 in 10 innings. Richard Davis went 8 innings and gave up 4 unearned runs. Arthur Freshour (yes someone from my bullpen) pitched the final 2 for the win. Offensively Trap Door hit his 2nd home run in 2 days # 5 for the year. Johnson O'Brien helped the 10th get rolling with a 1 out solo shot # 2 for the year, that shot was just a part of his 3-4 day. And Leslie Aaron ended the rally with a triple with a man on in the 10th. Catcher James Wine for the Tidecats seems to be having an all-star season as he hit home run # 6 to go with his .314 average and 13 RBI on the year.

Game 22 - Roughnecks 5, Firebirds 4. After a day off and a return trip home, Blake Everett gets the W, giving up 4 runs in just over 7 innings. He did give up two home runs to Brian Kellum who went 2-5 with 3 RBI. He now has 7 HR this year. Arthur Freshour gets save # 4. Michael Price continues his terror and knocks out his fifth home run of the year. Also, feeling a little more at ease at the plate or feeling the pressure of his job status, Harold Fox hit his first home run of the year and went 2-3 with 2 RBI. He is now hitting .247 which is the lowest on the team among the 8 starters. The team .280 average is 2nd highest in the association.

Game 23 - Roughnecks 4, Firebirds 3. Well, we close out April in great fashion, winning the third in a row and second in a row at Detroit Stadium, but this one holds a little more weight as it came on Glove Day and my fan interest increased. I had 30,000 in attendance for this great game. Barney Cordova gives up 3 runs in 7 innings and builds his record to 3-0. Arthur Freshour strikes out 2 of the 4 batters he faced to get save # 5. Michael Price and Johnson O'Brien both go 3-5 and David Tuma goes 2-3 with 2 RBI.

At the end of April, Detroit is 11-12 and 6 games back of the Ambassadors. We are tied for 4th with Miami and behind the Dallas Lawmen and Denver Diablos. My team offensive player of the month is Michael Price. His late hot streak has pushed him to the head of the triple crown categories. .367-5-20 and Joshua Scurry is tied with the HR and RBI lead with him. Barney Cordova picked up where he left off last year and is 3-0 2.30.

In the Minors - I am told in AAA that 25 year old MR Augustin Spates is ready for the show. He currently has a 1.17 ERA in 7 innings. Garry Branch is still on a terror batting .370 with 4 HR and 10 RBI. In AA, Clement Jarboe is showing he could be ready for AAA as his ERA is down to 3.53 and his IP to H ratio is now 51-37. In A ball the pitching is the thing. Terry Riemer (22) and Robert Bonk (24) are looking ready for AA. Reimer 2-1 2.34 and Bonk 3-2 2.01 and 19 year old MR Matthew Trimm has a 1.46 era in 12 innings of relief.


Players of the Month - Tanner Tartar for San Diego Breakers got the nod as he hit .420 with 17 RBI and Louisville Sluggers RF Dale Elia slugged his way to a .345-8-17 month. Tanner is leading the Association in batting. Dale is tied for the home run lead in the CL and second in batting. The Ambassadors Daniel Unknow is the FL Pitcher of the Month. Daniel went 4-0 1.97 while striking out 24 in 24 innings. In the CL it was Cincinnati Valley Cat Gregory Huhn. Gregory went 4-1 1.32 in 41 innings and struck out 15.

[Boll Weevil]

Game 24 - Roughnecks 4, Firebirds 3. A rare home sweep for the Roughnecks. Kevin Chambers went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs. He runs his record to 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA. Arthur Freshour gets his sixth save of the season. 24 year old SS, Willard Gossage hit his 3rd home run of the year in the 7th off of Chambers. Johnson O'Brien went 3-4 and runs his batting average up to .372 which now ranks third in the Federal League.

Game 25 - Roughnecks 8, Ambassadors 7. League leading New York comes to Detroit Stadium and loses a tough game 8-7. Richard Davis gave up 7 runs in 2.1 innings and the bullpen came up huge to hold the heavy hitters in check. 5 relievers pitched 6.2 innings of 2 hit ball. Nolan Peters got the win. Arthur got his seventh save. Michael Price and Kenton Smith both had 3 hits and Johnson O'Brien hit a 2 run homer which is his third home run of the year. Joseph 'Automatic' Lee hit his 10th home run of the year for the Ambassadors. He has 22 RBI also.

Game 26 - Ambassadors 6, Roughnecks 2. Blake Everett falls to 2-3 as he pitches 8.1 innings and gave up all 6 runs. Chris Cobbs pitched a stellar game for New York as he went 8 and 4 hits but one of them was a solo shot to Kenton Smith. SS Brad Kaye went 3-5 for New York.

Game 27 - Roughnecks 5, Ambassadors 4 in 13. Arthur Freshour does it again. Well, in all fairness it was mainly Johnson O'Brien's error that caused Arthur to give up 2 unearned runs. The possible winner of this game was Barney Cordova who pitched 7 innings and gave up 2 unearned runs. Bill Rish pitched the 13th for the win. Michael Price (6) and Johnson O'Brien (4) hit solo shots.

Game 28 - Roughnecks 5, Breakers 3. The Roughnecks go to Breaker Park and feel at home as they take care of business. Johnson O'Brien and Leslie Aaron make up for mistakes in the field as they each have great days at the plate. Johnson went 4-4 with a run and a RBI. Leslie 1-4 bu the 1 hit was a big 3 run blast, his fourth home run of the year. Kevin Chambers goes 7.1 giving up 3 runs, 1 earned to earn his 5th victory. 2B Brian Vargo went 2-4 with his 5th HR for San Diego.

Game 29 - Roughnecks 3, Breakers 1. Gergory Valkman had an excellent start as he went 7.2 giving up 1 unearned run. Arthur Freshour came in to earn his 2nd straight save and he now has 9 for the year. Harold Fox went 2-4 with 2 RBI. Tanner Tartar has gone 0-6 in the first two games of this series (of course this is probably a kiss of death to mention it, but oh well.)

Game 30 - Breakers 7, Roughnecks 4. Sure enough, I knew I should have stopped my fingers before they typed. It was only a matter of time and this was his time. Tanner Tartar goes 2-3 with 2 deep balls and 3 RBI. He now has 9 HR and 26 RBI to go with his .425 average. Richard Davis went 6.1 innings giving up 4, and Lorenzo Whitehouse comes in and 3 more runs while only getting 1 out. Offensively, Bernard Blanc went 1-4 with 2 RBI and his first ding dong of the year as he got the start in Right. Leslie Aaron had 2 hits and 2 RBI and Kenton Smith also had 2 hits.

At the 30 game mark, I am 16-14 and on a nice little run. We are currently 4 games back of New York. In the CL, the Las Vegas Stars have a 4.5 game lead over the Sluggers of Louisville and a 5 game lead over Albuquerque.

[CecilCooper]

Ok, it's still me Boll, but I found the password to my first username and I like this one better so I am going to go with it. It's all about Cecil!

Anyway, again it's break time and this time around I will take a look at 2 of the team I was thinking about becoming in the poll I had. The Miami Tidecats and the Cincinnati Valley Cats

Miami Tidecats are currently 16-14 and tied with me for 3rd, 4 games back of New York. Miami has a fan interest of 35 and a payroll of 39 mil which is lowest in the league. The Tidecats right now have one of the best pitching staffs in the Association as they are 3rd in ERA and 1st in Opp Avg. Andrew Burnside, 36 is sitting at 4-2 2.82. He is a 3-time all-star. Someone not getting any run support is 40 year old Jarrett Helms. He is a 2-time all-star and a career .500 pitcher. He is 1-2 2.18 with a staggering .79 WHIP. Wesley Graham is 2-1 3.57 and is holding batters from both sides of the plate below .200. Offensively is where the Tidecats are hurting. The ONLY player worth mentioning right now is 31 year old catcher James Wine who is at .347-10-17. The Reno, NV native is only in his 2 year starting and was an all-star last year and looks well on his way again this year. Craig 'Shotgun' Chaires was the 3rd overall pick in 1928 and is one of the youngsters to keep an eye on. At 23, and still in A ball, he will need to start moving up the organization to realize his potential. He is batting .287-4-15 so far this year. Two pitchers to keep an eye on are sitting in AA this year and they are 19 year old Donald Muldoon (3-2 1.93) and Dave Williams, 21, 5-1 2.68.

And the team this time around in the Continental League, the Cincinnati Valley Cats. The Cats are 15-18 8 games back of the Las Vegas Stars and in 5th. Their fan interest is last at 19 and they have the 2nd lowest payroll at 42 mil. The 19 for fan interest is 9 higher than the end of last year when I was contemplating becoming this team. The lone bright spot of the pitching staff this year is reigning pitcher of the month, Gregory Huhn. I am not sure how he is doing it, but Gregory has a 5-2 record with a 1.98 ERA while having a 1.44 WHIP. He is losing the H to IP battle (61-59) and the BB to K battle (24-17) but somehow manages to keep winning games and keep the ERA low. Only a couple of marginal batters worth mention and they are 33 year old first baseman Anthony Richards .301-1-11 and 24 year old SUPER STUD, Alvin Gary. Alvin is a 2B out of Mobile, AL and was the # 5 pick in the 1928 draft. He is hitting .295-2-14 so far this year and he also has 7 steals. Another nice prospect to keep an eye on is Steven Mayes a 23 year old Left Fielder who is making a big splash in AA as he is hitting .330-6-18 so far this year.

Another thing I want to do is get you caught up on some of the history in the Association as well. So with this report I will introduce two of the greats of the BLA. If I ever go to naming the awards for players these two will warrant a look.

Outfielder Kevin Hebron. Kevin's career started off being the # 3 pick in the 1910 draft and he didn't disappoint the Ambassadors. After two years in the minors he skipped AAA and caught on with the parent club. He was a career Ambassador and in his 17+ years he amassed 662 Home Runs which was leading the BLA until 'Trap Door' Scurry came along. a 16-time all-star, he was a lock for almost any year he was a starter (2 years didn't make the team). Kevin was the outstanding rookie in 1912 while hitting 280 with 12 HR and he led the league in HR 5 times. One drawback to Kevin's career is that he only made the post-season 1 time in 1917. He was also a pretty good fielder earning 3 platinum gloves, two in Left and 1 in Right. Kevin also had 4 Outstanding Batter awards. At one point of his career he hit HRs in 7 straight games.

Avg .314 (14th on career board), H 2965 (6), HR 662 (2), RBI 1754 (3), R 1950 (3), BB 1589 (4),

And Pitcher Richard Hathorn. Richard was a 3rd round pick of Dallas in 1903. Unfortunately for the Lawmen, he never played a game for them (until 1926) as he was traded later in 1903. He had a rough time breaking into the majors as he spent 7 years in A ball and finally broke through to the majors as a regular starter in 1911 with Las Vegas. However, Richard wasn't a bonafide star until he was traded again this time to Bakersfield in 1913 and from 1914 to 1925 he made the all-star team each year (12 times). Richard appeared in 500 games 498 as a starter. He had a career mark of 287-133 with a 2.51 ERA. He made the post season three times in his career and had a 2-2 record. Outstanding Newcomer in 1911 (10-7 3.04), 8 Outstanding Pitchers, one time won 22 straight decisions.

W 287 (2), L 133, ERA 2.51 (2), IP 3962.2, H 3054, BB 1118, K 4212 (1), CG 177 (3), SHO 59 (1) and WHIP 1.05

[CecilCooper]

Game 31 - Roughnecks 9, Miracle 8. Blake Everett did not fare too well this game as he gives up 7 earned in just over 5 innings. Luckily the bullpen and the hitters picked up the slack. Michael Price hit his 7th of the year a solo shot. Archie Chapman and Michael both went 3-4, driving in 1 each. Kenton Smith went 2-4 and drove in 2. Johnson O'Brien had 2 hits and drove in 3. Justin Bozarth got the win in relief and Arthur got the save. 35 year old First Baseman Travis Beus led the way going 4-5 with 3 ribbies for Orlando.

Game 32 - Miracle 1, Roughnecks 0. It took 32 games but I was shut out for the first time this year in a great pitchers duel. Barney Cordova went 7 and got a no-decision. Clifford Flax a first round pick (8th overall) in 1926 out of Moreno Valley, CA is only making his 2nd start in the majors and pitched a gem giving up 2 hits in 8.2 innings. Justin Bozarth gets the loss for the Roughnecks at Orlando Stadium.

Game 33 - Roughnecks 5, Miracle 4. Detroit wins the rubber game 5-4. Joshua Scurry and Johnson O'Brien both get 2 hits with Trap Door hitting home run # 6 of the year, a solo shot. Michael Price and Jason Sin each had 3 hits with Michael hitting # 8 and driving in 2. Kevin Chambers went 8 and gave up 3, but runs his record to 6-1. Arthur Freshour gave up 1 run in his inning of relief but holds on for his 11th save. 26 year old Alexander Seidman runs his horrendous start to 0-7, 5.34. 3B Mark 'Long Haul' Isham went 2-3 with a 3 run home run (5) in the losing cause.

Game 34 - Roughnecks 3, Tidecats 2. Detroit goes home to Detroit Stadium and picks up where they left off and leave the field winners again. Leslie Aaron hit a solo shot, and Michael Price hit's a walk-off home run with 2 out to win the game. 1B Robert Stipe went 3-4 for Miami. Gregory Volkman had another nice start lasting over 6 innings and giving up 2. James Bernardini gets the win. On the TRANSACTION front the waiver wire has former # 2 overall pick SP Sean Breeding listed and he has had some low WHIPs in A Ball and if I get him he would go straight to Flint to try out AA.

Game 35 - Roughnecks 5, Tidecats 4. Trap Door and Leslie Aaron each drive in 2. Leslie hits home run # 6. Richard Davis gives up 4 in 6 and walks 5 while striking out 8. Lorenzo Whitehouse gets the W to move to 1-3. Robert Stipe is among 3 Tidecats with 2 hits a piece. Around the league, Harry Maltby (3-2) pitched a no hitter for Las Vegas Stars vs the Jacksonville Diamond Jaxx. He walked 4 in the 127 pitch effort.

Game 36 - Roughnecks 6, Tidecats 0. Detroit is now in 2nd place and 2.5 games back of the Ambassadors. Blake Everett went the distance and scatters 8 hits for the shutout complete game. Blake evens his record at 3-3. Harold Fox led the way with 3 hits and a RBI. Kenton Smith went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI. Michael Price hit a solo shot # 10 of the year. Robert Stipe and CF Robert Bailey each had 2 hits for the Tidecats who look the avoid the 4 game sweep tomorrow. On the TRANSACTION front we did end up winning the race for Sean Breeding and he is now with Flint.

Game 37 - Tidecats 3, Roughnecks 0. Barney Cordova once again gets 0 run support (literally). He falls to 3-1 but still maintains a 2.23 ERA. 40 year old Jarrett Helm is now 2-3 1.91 for Miami. Johnson O'Brien had 2 hits for Detroit. 21 year old 2B Lloyd Smith went 2-3 with a run and RBI to give Miami all the offense they needed.

[CecilCooper]

Game 38 - Roughnecks 2, Breakers 1. Two complete games in this pitchers duel. Kevin Chambers gives up 2 hits, and walks 5 in his 9 innings (7-1) and Rick Craney goes 8 and allows 5 hits including a home run (11) to Michael Price. A quick look at the leader boards shows Michael Price 2nd in Avg, HR, 3rd in OPS and RBI (.363, 11, 1.053, 30) Barney Cordova is 2nd in ERA (2.23) and Kevin Chambers is first in Wins and K's (7, 66). Arthur Freshour is 1st in Saves. In the minors, Sean Breeding had his first start and got a no-decision as he went 8 allowing 7 hits, but walking 8!! He will have to regain a lot of control and keep his pitch count down.

Game 39 - Breakers 6, Roughnecks 2. Richard Davis falls to 1-3 on the year as he gives up all 6 runs in just under 8 innings. Johnson O'Brien went 3-4 and Trap Door Scurry went 2-4 and drove in both runs. For the Breakers, Edwin Tunstall went the distance to get the win and struck out 12. He runs his record to 4-1. Tanner Tartar went 1-4 with 2 RBI. RF Alfred Evans led the hit parade going 3-5.

Game 40 - Breakers 6, Roughnecks 5. Blake Everett goes the distance in this loss. His ERA is at 4.91 and he drops below .500 (3-4). A lot of regulars had the day off today but that is no excuse. Michael Price hits # 12 and drove in 2. Johnson O'Brien went 3-4. Johsua Scurry and Leslie Aaron both didn't start but were brought in half way through the game. Jason Sin started behind the plate also. CF Marcus 'Deacon' Bremer goes deep for the 2nd straight game (5) and drove in 3. 2B Brian Vargo also went yard (8) and drove in 2.

Game 41 - Roughnecks 6, Miracle 2. Barney Cordova goes 8 and gives up 2 runs and gets the Win with a fine performance. The Detroit batters give Daniel Unknow his first loss of the year (5-1). SS Kenton 'The Ghoul' Smith had a roller-coaster type game. He led off the game with a single.... was caught stealing. Then he hit a solo shot (4) in the third. Finally, in the 5th he was tossed after watching strike three fly past him. Joshua Scurry went 2-4. 23 Year old 3B Jayson Desousa led the way for the Miracle going 3-4. Jayson was the # 10 pick in the 1927 draft. He will be a name to watch for in the future. He is primarily a backup right now, but is batting .333 in 36 at-bats.

Game 42 - Roughnecks 8, Miracle 1. Again Detroit is making itself feel at home at Orlando Stadium. Gregory Volkman has had his 3rd strong pitching performance in a row. This time out he lasted 8.1 innings, giving up 6 hits, 1 run and K'ing 5. Johnson O'Brien went 3-4 driving in 3 and hitting HR #5. Joshua Scurry also had 3 hits and drove in 2. RF Mark Bauer was the only Miracle player to have 2 hits. Alexander Seidman loses #8. David Tuma hit his 2000th career hit this game.

Game 43 - Roughnecks 8, Miracle 6. It looks like my batters remember what Clifford Flax threw last time out and they were on top of the ball this time. Clifford who went 8.1 in shutting me out the last time I faced him only lasts 3 innings and gives up 6 earned runs. Kevin Chambers goes 8 strong innings k'ing 6, giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Then all hell breaks loose when Lorenzo Whitehouse comes in to replace him. 2 outs and 2 errors (Smith and Knight) later he has given up 5 runs, only 1 of which was earned. Then Freshour comes in to get the save. I'm beginning to think the bullpen does this so Arthur can get a save and then at the end of the year he will take the bullpen out to eat if he has the most saves in the League. Archie Chapman had a HUGE game hitting his first 2 home runs of the year, both solo shots. He and old man Tuma need to step it up as they are the low men on the totem pole when it comes to producing. I will definitely start giving them more days off to see if that might help. Scurry drove in 2 more on 2 hits to bring the RBI total to 31. SS Lee Branigan for the Miracle went 3-3 with a RBI to keep his All-Star type season going (.345-5-31)

Game 44 - Roughnecks 4, Tidecats 2. There was a mini-celebration after this game when the out of town scores came across the wire as the Roughnecks are now tied for first. New York has been in a slide for some time now and Denver had taken over the lead but now we are tied for first with New York a half game back. Ricahrd Davis throws 8 strong giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Arthur gets save 14. Michael Price goes 3-4 with a home run and 2 RBI. The Ghoul goes 1-3 and also drives one in. Robert Stipe and James Wine each had 2 hits in the losing effort for Miami.

Game 45 - Tidecats 8, Roughnecks 3. Not much in the way of bright spots after this game. Blake Everett gets shelled. Lorenzo Whitehouse gets rocked and is dangerously close to demotion. Backup SS Dennis Jackman did hit his first HR of the year though. LF Michael Settle had a nice game 3-5 with 2 RBI. Wesley Graham pitched a great game also going 8 innings giving up 3 runs in the win (3-3).

[CecilCooper]

Alright we are almost 30% complete for the year and right now after 45 games Detroit is 1 game back (but in 3rd place) of first place Denver. In the Continental League the Las Vegas Stars enjoy a 5.5 game lead and the best record in the Association at 32-13. Now lets take a look at the CL's 2nd place team Louisville Sluggers as well as the FL's 4th place San Diego Breakers.

Louisville Sluggers
Louisville is 26-18 with a Fan Interest of 59 and a payroll of 84 million. So far this year, their power and their ability to draw walks has kept them in the position they are in. 36 y/o RF Dale Elia is leading the way for Louisville .391-11-25. Dale is a 3-time all-star and looking to make his 4th. Nathaniel Austin a young (25) 1B is also having a good start .323-9-32. 14-time All-star LF Eugene 'The Bull' Caplan is closing in on HR #500. He sits at 488 and so far has 10 this year to go with his .258 and 30 RBI. 4-time all-star Numbers Hopping is the ace of the staff. The 32-year old from Bakersfield, CA is 6-3, 1.82 and has 70 k's. Robert Stewart has a 5-0 record with a 2.80 ERA. Two people to keep an eye on in the minors are 25 year old SP Michael Oliver who is 5-4, 2.55 at (AAA) Frankfort. Also 23 year old 2B Jeromy Chesley .323-8-19 at (A) Goshen.

San Diego Breakers
San Diego is in 4th right now, 1 game over .500 (23-22). The Breakers have a very balanced team with a top 5 ranking in all categories on the roster report except for walks (10th) and opp avg (9th). They are led by future Hall-of-Famer Junior Austin. The 38 Year old out of Omaha has 7 Pitcher of the Year awards to his credit. The 10-time all-star is the all-time Wins leader at 302 and counting. So far this year his line reads, 5-1 2.13. Edwin Tunstall, 31, 4-2 2.90 and Eugene Alexander, 37, 6-1 3.19 are no slouches either. On the bats side of things, it all starts with 10 time all-star and an Outstanding Batter winner Tanner 'The Cat' Tartar .409-9-34. That average is 39 points higher than 2nd in the League. OF Steven Davis is also having a good year .325-5-32. The rest of the batters either have a decent average or show good power but no one else shows both. 3B William Moberg (19) .315-1-15 and 1B Norman Madeiros (22) .307-4-25 are two guys at Chula Vista (A) to keep an eye on.

In The Minors
Kalamazoo (AAA) - SP John Dice is making a strong push for a promotion. He is currently 7-2 1.69. If I move him up the question becomes who moves down. The two options are SP Blake Everett 3-5 5.40, and MR Lorenzo Whitehouse 1-3 8.10. And then if I move Blake down, who becomes the new starter John Dice or Nolan Peters. Also my scout seems to think that Augustin Spates, MR, 25, is ready for a promotion also. 1-1 3.77 in 14 innings. Gary Maillet is finding his niche at Kalamazoo 6-4 3.56. 2b-CF Joseph Paige (.314-9-26) is making a push for David Tuma's (.224-0-19) CF spot. C Mark Olivier (.320-9-26) is also one who is making the catchers nervous at Detroit.

Flint (AA) - IF-OF William Drysdale is looking for a promotion to AAA (.302-6-26). On the pitching side, phenom Clement Jarboe is 4-5 4.09 but the scout is pushing me to move the 22 year old to AAA. 2 27 year old pitchers Jordan Liggett (3-2 2.06) and Dean Cartagena (4-4 2.96) are also worthy of a promtion soon, even though I don't think they will ever be serviceable at the Bigs. 24 year old MR Jason Hood (1-1, 1 sv 1.80) is close to AAA also.

Livonia (A) - 5th round pick OF Leo Dexter is having a good year (.327-7-21). CF Robert Daughtrey (23), .279-5-24 is the only other starter having a decent year. First round pick LF John Levy is struggling at the moment .232-6-20. He is currently batting lead-off I will probably get him out of that role to get some pressure off of him. Robert Bonk, 24, is close to AA 7-3 2.33. 18 year old Kurt Lowe has nice numbers 5-4 3.72 but he just needs to work on his control 32-44 bb/k.

[theasfl]

looks like Miami has had a good history

[CecilCooper]

Thanks theasfl for the comment and that brings up a little question I had. What is their history so I did a little checking and here you go.

Since 1920, Miami has fallen on hard times finishing 4th twice and no higher. Fan Loyalty has dropped twice in the last 4 years. So where was their run and why??

They finished in First 1907 THROUGH 1916!! And also in 1918. Again, the question comes who did they have that made this run so spectacular. They had 4 DIFFERENT pitchers of the year for a total of 11 years. They also had 4 DIFFERENT batter of the years win the award as a Tidecat for a total of 5 years.

Pitchers
Daniel Webber - 7 All-stars, on Miami 01-10
Joseph Anderson - 4 POY, 7 AS, on Mia 07-19
David Cushing - 5 AS, On Mia 08-21
Bruce Oles - 5 POY (6th came after the run was over), 9 AS, On Mia 10-26

Batters
C Frederick Hayse - 2 BOY, 13 AS, on Mia 6-14
LF Jason Kemp - 7 AS, On Mia 08-11
CF Michael Clinard - 6 AS, On Mia 11-17
SS Thomas Frese - 9 AS, On Mia 08-16

*All-Star #'s are total times, not necessarily only while on Mia.

So as you see, they had a great core group of players for that nice lengthy run. It would have been nice to try and build them back up to that, but the vote went the other way. Maybe "if" I get Detroit there, that will be my next challenge.

Thanks for reading!

[CecilCooper]

Alright, I am sure a game by game breakdown is getting long and boring so I will speed it up by going by series.

I only had one game left of the Miami series, a loss 6-5. Barney Cordova falls to 4-2. Michael Price and Jeffrey Knight each hit home runs.

Vs San Diego (4 games)
I went 3-1, losing the Finale in a game that was started and completed by Blake Everett. Not a bad game though it was a 3-1 loss just no run support. He ran into a buzzsaw Eugene Alexander won again and is now 7-1. In this series, Kevin Chambers became the first 9 game winner in the Association. No other pitcher has 8 yet. He struck out 10 in 8.1 innings. Archie Chapman hit a HR and drove in 3 this series. Michael Price hit two in one game and drove in 6 for the series. Kenton Smith also hit one out. Gregory Volkman (3-1 1.83) also had a great start giving up 10 hits but no runs in 8 innings. Arthur Freshour now has 16 Saves. Tanner Tartar was held to 1 hit for the series. His average has dipped to .393.

At Ambassador Field in NY (3 Games)
I went 2-1 this series again losing the finale. The finale was pitched (not so well) by Kevin Chambers and he is now 9-2. He only lasted 5 innings in this start giving up 5 runs (3 earned). George Kelley went the distance for NY and is 5-1 now. Volkman and Cordova both got the wins in the earlier games.
David Tuma had a great series playing in the first two games and going 2-6 with a HR and 3 RBI. Joshua Scurry and Leslie Aaron also hit Home Runs in this series. Joseph 'Automatic' Lee went 4-4 the first game but 1-5 the last two games.


END OF MAY
In the Federal League
Denver is 31-21
Detroit is 31-22 .5 back
New York 30-22 1 back
Batter of Month, Dallas OF Jeffrey Hartman .380-9-23 in May
Pitcher of Month, Dallas P Eugene Dixon 5-1 1.23

In the Continental League
Las Vegas 33-19
Louisville 30-22 3 back
Batter of the Month, Louisville 1B Nathaniel Austin .396-5-24
Pitcher of the Month, Louisville P Numbers Hopping 6-1 1.00 53ks in 54 innings.

Detroit Batter of the Month: Michael Price .327-11-21
Detroit Co-Pitchers of the Month: Gregory Volkman 4-0 1.41
Kevin Chambers 6-0 1.85

[CecilCooper]

Vs Orlando (5-6, 3-6, 5-3)
I take 1 out of 3 at home vs the Miracle. In the off day preceeding this series I placed Lorenzo Whitehouse on waivers before moving him down to AAA. 25 year old Augustin Spates will get his shot in Detroit. Kenton Smith went 3-5 with a HR (6) in the first game. Johnson O'Brien went 7-13 with 4 RBI in the series. Lorenzo Whitehouse came in during both losses and threw 3.2 innings and gave up 3 runs. Richard Davis and Barney Cordova got the losses in shaky starts. Blake Everett pitched a superb game going 8 innings and getting the win. For the Miracle, RF Mark Bauer went 7-12 with 3 runs and 1 HR. C James Burke went 5-8 with 4 RBI and 1 HR in 2 games.

At Miami (2-7, 5-9, 9-4)
Again I only get 1 of 3. Kevin Chambers had his 2nd straight shaky outing and lost his 2nd in a row (9-3). Gregory Volkman (4-2) did not make it out of the 4th. On the plus side, Augustin Spates made his debut and pitched 2.1 innings in relief allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. In the Finale, Richard Davis got the win (4-4). Kenton Smith went 2-12 with 4 RBI this series. Archie Chapman 6-10 with 3 RBI. And Joshua Scurry had a HR (9) and 2 RBI in the finale. For Miami. C James Wine went 3-7 5 RBI in 2 games. 2B Lloyd Smith went 5-13 3 RBI. Andrew Burnside pitched a great opener k'ing 10 in 9 innings. Jarrett Helm went 8 and only allowed 2 hits (but 2 runs) in game 2.

vs New York (5-2, 4-7, 4-3)
I take 2 of three from the Ambassadors and knock them out of a first place tie with Denver. Again, a terrible start for Kevin Chambers he gave up 5 runs in 2.2 innings (9-4). Johnson O'Brien went 7-11 with 3 RBI. Joshua Scurry went 6-9 and 4 RBI. Blake Everett pitched a great finale going 8 strong innings. Again this series Augustin Spates had 2 innings of shutout relief. So far so good for this youngster. 2B Norman Fischer had a HUGE game in the lone Ambassador win as he had 3 hits, 2 HR and 6 RBI. On a side note, Tanner Tartar is on a major slide and Johnson O'Brien is now the FL's leading hitter.

vs Dallas (1-0, 3-2 (14), 4-1)
A MUCH needed sweep of the Lawmen. Barney Cordova had a scare in the last game as he left after 2.2 innings when he was hit by a line drive. He is day to day though so that is good news. Augustin Spates came in to replace him and gets the win. Richard Davis prevailed over Andrew Binford in the opener. Binford allowed 5 hits but 1 run, while Davis gave up 7 hits and shut them out. Gregory Volkman had a strong start in the 2nd game. Not much going on offensively in this series. However, Michael Price did hit #17.

[CecilCooper]

Welcome back everyone. It's time to take a look at two more teams in the Association. This time we will start with the Federal League leading Denver Diablos.

The Diablos are standing at 39-26 .5 games up on New York and a full game up on Detroit. They have an $86 mil payroll and a maxed out Fan Interest. Denver has, so far, sold out every game at Devil's Den Field this season. Leading the team on the mound is their Closer, 38 year old, Wilbert Blackmore. He is 5-0 17 SV, 2.08, in 30 games. For Starters, they are alright. The top 2 are 3 time all-star George Hults who is 35 and has a 6-4 record with a 2.86 ERA. And 4-time all-star Larry McLean who is 9-1 4.03. 1B Mario Frost is leading the bats .310-7-42. They also have a great platoon going at Catcher with Jay Gibson (.333-1-15) and Eric Johnson (.352-4-23). It's only a shame they have to share the duties. The team home run leader right now is 3B Jeffrey King with 13, but he is only batting .220. In the minors, 23 year old RF Cornell Alcott is tearing up Fort Collins (A) with a .303-13-44 clip. There is also a pair of 23 year old SP to keep an eye on at Cheyenne (AA). Harold Ladouceur 9-2 2.52 and Samuel Haug 3-6 3.16. Even though a lot of Denver's starters are 35 and older, it looks like they have ample replacements building.

Now it's time for a team that I don't believe I have mentioned since the first post of this thread. The Dayton Dragons. Dayton is 31-33 9.5 games back of Las Vegas and sitting in 5th. The Dragons have a Fan Interest of 55 and a payroll of 49 million. Their ability to hit into the open spots of the field is their only reason they are still have a chance to make some noise. 3B Benjamin Hawkes (.338-13-38), 1B Steve Croom (.325-8-40), and SS Jeffrey Moyes (.314-10-26) are the hitting leaders of this team. Only 1 starter needs mention right now and that is Franklin Paynter (9-2 2.16). The bullpen seems very solid with the highest ERA of the bunch being 3.52 and that is the only one over 3. There are a couple of nice SP's at Canton (A). They are 18 year old Joseph Glenn (6-5 3.01) and 21 year old Rufus Hyde (1-1 1.74) and so far Rufus has given up 9 hits in over 20 innings. Frank Kempf is a 25 year old 2B at Toeldo (AA) .282-7-31 that needs to be watched.

[CecilCooper]

Let me introduce a few more great players of the past to you.

The all-time Hits leader is 1B Paul Wilson. He just retired prior to this year and he has 3250 hits. Paul was an 8-time all-star and won the Batter of the Year award in 1921 when he hit .317-43-110. 1921 was also his only year making the playoffs. Paul was the # 3 overall pick of Albuquerque in 1907. He played for 4 teams in his career, Albuquerque, Orlando, Cincinnati, and St Louis. All of his All-Star years came with Orl and Cin. He won 9 Platinum Gloves with 7 being at First and 2 being at Third. Paul also had 2-20 game hit streaks and 1-23 game.

Avg .291, H 3250 (1), HR 537 (4), 2B 531 (3), RBI 1742 (4), R 1731 (4), BB 1147 (19)

The # 2 Hits man is OF Joseph Mahon. Joseph was the $ 3 overall pick of Orlando in 1909. Joseph is thisclose to Paul's hit record as he retired with 3246 hits. Joseph is a 12 time all-star and has won 3 Platinum Gloves, 2 in Left and 1 in Center. Joseph has also made the playoffs twice, winning a Championship in 1917 with Baskersfield. Joseph played for Orlando and Bakersfield... he also spent his last year with Dayton. It's tough to pick a best year for Joseph. His highest OPS was a tie so here are those two years. 1919 .306-41-102 and 1920 .336-28-77. He led the league in Steals 6 times.

Avg .299, H 3246 (2), HR 479 (12), RBI 1615 (10), 2B 441 (13), R 1980 (2), BB 1243 (11), SB 873 (1).

It's time to bring back someone already mentioned once. Pitcher Bruce Oles of Miami fame. Bruce was the 2nd round pick of Miami in 1904 and he spent basically his whole career in Miami except for the last part of his last year. Bruce won the Newcomer of the Year award in 1911 when he was 11-6 4.15. He made playoff appearances in 7 seasons going 5-3 3.32. He won 4 World Championships. Bruce owns 6 Pitcher of the Year awards, the author of 1 no-hitter and also a 9-time all-star. He was quite dominant throughout his career but his best season in my opinion is 1914 when he went 27-3 1.94, 12 complete games, 6 shutouts, and 240 strikeouts.

ERA 2.83 (5), W 256 (5), L 134, K 3181 (12), SHO 40 (5), IP 3597, CG 91, WHIP 1.08