The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

WEEK 18
3 vs Alaska (51-57 22 GB West)
Off Day
3 @ Arizona (51-57 22 GB West)

GAME 109
A Raul Feliz PH 2 run single in the bottom of the 8th made brought us back and Ernesto Cruz pitched a perfect 9th for his 4th Save. Mike Davis was outstanding going 8-7-3-3-1-4. Alexander and Chartier went 2-4 with Massi Lorenzelli hitting his 32nd double.
CHI 4 ALK 3 (72-37 +)

DL NEWS
Hugh Collins is ready to come off the DL, going to get him a few AB’s in Tulsa before activating him. Angel Lopez and Raul Feliz are banged up a bit.

Eric Coates is hurt again, 3 weeks this time…

TRADE NEWS
I made a waiver trade today, reacquiring IF Chris Dixon from Edmonton for IF Fred Huff. We also exchanged 1st round picks in the 2015 draft. Dixon is out of options and I am waiting a few days with him on waivers to see if any of these injuries get worse, but working to deal him if I need to, in the meantime.

Las Vegas traded former Iron Pig Sergio Lopez to Alaska in a waiver deal. Vegas received IF Arturo Rodriguez in return. Lopez is hitting .233-8-45 with 46 runs in 88 games, Rodriguez is hitting .259-12-52 in 104 games so far this year.

GAME 110
MacFadden (7-6) goes 7-7-2-2-1-3 and into the 7th Zito (7-6) had him down 2-1, Ernesto Gutierrez’s 1 out 7th inning triple tied it and Jean Chartier singled him in to win it. Winston (H7) tossed a perfect 8th and Cruz (SV 5) a perfect 9th, striking out the side. Rafael Flores was hurt running the bases in the 7th and came out.
CHI 3 ALK 2 (73-37 +3)

INJURY NEWS
Flores is severely hurt, his hip problem will have him out until Spring Training at least. As the organizations best defensive Catcher this could have been huge but Eric Hudson is off the DL tomorrow. I need him to get some rehab AB’s though, so a corresponding move needs to be made. The 40 man is full, but I clear a spot by putting Flores on the 60 day. It’s waiver time so I can’t get another catcher in any sort of timely fashion, I am going to need to go with 1 catcher for 1 game and activate Hudson immediately, no rehab, and likely ease him back in.

GAME 111
Alfredo Alejandrez (14-4) went 7-4-0-0-5-5 and Sib van Bodegraven got the last 6 outs, with some work, and Angel Lopez hit a double (10) and a triple (6), scoring twice, and Wes Morgan in a rare appearance in the 2 hole went 2-4 with his 20th double and drove in a run.
CHI 7 ALK 0 (74-37 +4)

GAMES
Sacramento’s 2012 1st round draft choice (#9 overall) righty Bryan Rodgers tossed his first IBL shutout. Rogers struck out 8 in moving to 6-5 3.82.

OFF DAY NEWS
INJURY NEWS
Diablo 3B Vincent Lange will have his DL stay extended another 2 week as his sprained ankle is not healing as expected. The club has managed to go 9-3 since Lange went down, with 25 year old call up Rafael Cuesta going 11-25 2 doubles, 2 homers and a 379/471/655 line in Lange’s spot.

OFF DAY LOOK AROUND THE MINORS
TULSA-58-58 8 GB of Circle Pines (ALK)-Brian Walker leads with a .260 average, now departed Fred Huff leads with 20 HR’s and 65 RBI’s, active leader is now Steve Howard at 14 and Alfredo Lozan0 (in the IBL) with 55 RBI’s, Alejandro Sotolo is 3rd with 43 but on the DL for a few more days. Gerardo Zamora is 11-6 2.76, leading in both, and Denny Walker has 139 K’s. They have 2 MR on the DL, and are 3rd in SB, 5th in HR’s, 2nd in SP ERA, 14th in Bullpen, 12th in Defense.

Catcher Francisco Reyna went 5-6 in an 11-8 loss today. He’s hitting 255-1-11 on the year in 137 games since being called up from AA.

BAKERSFIELD-56-60 12 GB Fremont (COL) Ricardo Gonalez leads all three, .280-17-63 (77th round inaugural draft pick, #1828 overall). Bob Alexander has a 3.39 ERA and 123 K’s, 1 ahead of Zak Chambers (12-9 4.49) who has 122. Eric Coates is out the next 3 weeks. They are 4th in Avg, 5th in HR’s, Pedro Garcia is 2-3 29 Saves with a 2.83 ERA.

DENISON-61-55 2 GB of Atlanta (TUL) Barry Scott is hitting .280, Kyle Robinson has 18 HR’s 72 RBI’s. Ed Harris got a brief AA call up but was crushed, and is back and is 9-5 2.94, Robert Reyna leads with 13 wins (13-6 3.02) and Arturo Manuel has 126 k’s to Mike Abletts 125. They are 3rd in runs, 3rd in OBP, 5th in runs against, 4th in SP ERA, 1st in defense.

BELLEVIEW 54-62 9 GB of Smiths (FRE) Mark Murray leads at .243 and his 13 HR’s are tops. Clyde Brooks (now in AA) leads with 53 RBI’s. 1st pick Pedro Salinas is hitting 338/466/600 in 40 games since signing with 8 HR’s and 23 RBI’s. Scouts are saying he’s coming along FAR faster than they expected, he was called up to AA at the end of today with Ricardo Gonzalez moving to AAA.

HEAVENER 18-22 4 GB of Anaheim (AZ) Kevin Holbrook is hitting .260, Alex Cuellar has 6 HR’s and Holbrook 19 RBI’s to Cueller’s 17. Cuellar has also thrown 7 innings in relief. Garrett Austin is 4-0 1.84, and Alfredo Berroa has 49 K’s. Closer Ryan Lacey has 8 Saves and a 3.48 but is hurting with a yet to be diagnosed injury.

OMAHA 17-23 10 GB of Cibolo (HOU) Ken Morgan is hitting .271, George Payton has 9 HR’s 29 RBI’s and 2014 #2 pick Jorge Trujillo is hitting .244 3 HR’s 22 RBI’s, and scouts still firmly believe his bat is a 20 almost across the board.

If he, Salinas, Holbrook and Gonzalez ALL pan out I could be looking at a glut of 1B/DH types with one of my favorite players ‘blocking’ them in Wes Morgan. What it looks like is Morgans versatility to be an outstanding 3B will come in to play, and he’ll become the every day guy there, with 1 of these guys playing 1st, the other DH’ing. Lots of if’s there though. 2014 #1 pick Roberto Martinez is 6-1 2.05 in 7 starts, 44 IP 30 hits, 35 K’s and 17 walks and could likely move to Heavener now, which he actually does with a call up.

GAME 112
Richard Cox (9-4 5.06) goes 6.2-7-2-2-1-3 and Ryan Pennington gets the final 7 outs without a hit for his 3rd Save. Eric Hudson went 1-3 ( and was spelled the last 3 by Fuentes) in his return, Paul Riggs went 1-4 with his 28th double and scored twice, Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-3 with his 31st double and drove in 2. Ron Miller (now in the 3 hole vs LHP) went 2-4 with his 7th double, Chartier doubled (19) in a 2-4 day and Ignacio Ferrer went 2-4 and scored twice, hitting his 7th double.
CHI 6 AZ 2 (75-37 +4)

GAMES
Former Chicago prospect Carlos Vargas tossed his 1st IBL shut out yesterday in a 6-0 win over Corpus Christi. The 22 year old is 9-10 5.17 on the year. Vargas was involved in the very first trade I made, along with Jorge Diaz, to Philly for Lopez, Bautista and Sharpe. He was the IBL’s #73 prospect going into the 2012 season, and the #56 in 2013. He suffered a torn labrum late in the ’13 season after going 10-4 4.89 with the big club. He was 8-9 5.49 in 2014 in winning a ring with the World Champions.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Walt Thompson (BRO) is finding his way. In his last 7 starts he’s 6-0 2.38 with 52 K’s and 11 walks to go from 6-9 4.94 to 12-9 4.10. The team is 7-0 in those starts.

GAME 113
Spike Davis (13-5) was bombed. Giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 2 innings. Ken Phillips was 3-3 with 3 runs, Cris Martinez hit his 27th HR and Dan Jackson went 2-5 with a double (25) and his 19th HR. Wes Morgan was 1-2 with 2 walks and a double (21) driving in a run.
AZ 9 CHI 3 (75-38 +3)

GAME 114
Mike Davis (4-1) worked in and out of jams going 6.1-7-3-2-3-4 and Mike Moore got a big DP before the offense busted out. Jean Chartier went 3-5 with a run, Ron Miller went 1-3 with 2 runs, 2 RBI’s and Bill Alexander was 3-5 with 2 runs and 5 RBI’s hitting 2 doubles (13) and his 32nd HR. Eric Hudson went 3-5 with a double (13) and drove in 2. Chicago turned 3 double plays.
CHI 11 AZ 3 (76-38 +3)

WEEK 18 RECAP
Edmonton RF Luis Chavez won the FL PotW award after his 8-13 4 HR 9 RBI week. The 20 year old formerly of Sacramento (Their 19th rounder in 2012, #441 overall) continued his meteoric rise. He’s hitting 272-6-26 in his first 34 IBL games. He’s an IBL top 100, coming out of Farmersville HS in the tiny Texas town of Farmersville.

Speaking of young ‘up and comers’, 25 year old Mehpare Isfahani went 9-23 4 HR’s and 7 RBI’s to win the CL PotW. The 2014 Coastal League Rookie of the Year and 2015 All Star is having another monster season. Showing his .288-30-92 rookie campaign was no fluke by hitting .298-24-71 in 105 games this year.

IBL Leader in total bases
Gerald Wright (EP) 331
Bill Hill (DAY) 284
Alberto Vargas (BUF) 282
Angelo Gomez (COL) 265
Alex Rodriguez (ALK) 256

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Columbus
3) Chicago
4) Pittsburgh
5) Las Vegas

Bottom 5
22) Michigan
23) West Michigan
24) Alaska
25) Brooklyn
26) Corpus Christi

[gehrig38]

A look at the races and leaders, followed by a peek inside the FL stat leaders in selected categories.

Right now there's only 1 real race, the Lone Star Division in the Coastal. The race in our division is about the Wild Card only, short of a collapse both teams will make it. Houston and Tulsa will battle and the Empire Division likely will be a race too, but the FL West, CL Keystone are over, and the Pacific is getting there. The Coastal League Wild card, with some potential to be fun the last 2 weeks. Vince Bray is a serious contender for the pitching triple crown in the CL. Could call his lead in all three almost overwhelming.
Been working and reworking logos and uni's, which you might see some of in this, and the next post.

[gehrig38]

A look at some of the leaders in some select categories, the 'flashy' ones. You can see some new uni's as I rework logo's to put them on team colored back grounds to allow full uni color changes.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 19
3 vs El Paso (78-36 +19 W)
3 @ Michigan (49-65 27 GB MW)
1 vs New York (54-60 9 GB EM)

GAME 115
The big boys Gerald Wright (41) and Bob Alexander (33) trade solo punches through 4 for all the scoring. McFadden tires and Winston, Moore and van Bodegraven implode trying to hold the game close, with Moore coming in, 1st and 2nd 1 out, and giving up a Caden Haynes double, van Bodegraven relieving him and giving up a wild pitch to score one, then an RBI single to Daniel Sanchez. 2 Walks and a single load the bases in the 8th and Johnson comes in and ‘saves’ it, yielding a single run on a fielders choice, but the damage was done by that point. Haynes ended 3-5 with an RBI, Wright 1-3 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s, and is now hitting .353 (to Gutierrez .349). Jean Chartier went 2-3 with his 20th HR, driving in 2. Ron Miller had a PH solo HR in the 9th. Gutierrez hit his 32nd double, Lorenzelli his 33rd. MacFadden (7-7) went 6-7-4-4-2-4 in the loss. Jason Allen (13-3) went 8.2-7-4-4-3-4 and Paul Woodard got the final out for his 28th Save.
EP 7 CHI 4 (76-39 +3)

GAME 116
A crucial Ignacio Ferrer error and a bad pitch led to an early 4-0 hole Artie Johnson (6-4) and the pen held onto, despite a furious 9th inning rally. Caden Haynes slammed a 3 run shot (22) in the 3rd off Alfredo Alejandrez (14-5) who went 6-6-5-4-2-2. The pen, Winston and Pennington went 3-0-0-0-0-5 but the offense couldn’t get that last run. Ron Miller was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s, Collins 2-5 with an RBI and Bill Alexander went 2-4 with a run.
EP 5 CHI 4 (76-40 +3)

GAME 117
Another furious late rally, but this one actually makes a difference. Facing the Frontier League K leader in Corey Elkins (162 coming in) he went 8-5-3-3-2-10 and for the 2nd night in a row Eduardo Soriano couldn’t fine the zone (5 walks in 1 IP over 2 nights, with 3 hits). Ron Cox left trailing 4-1 (he went 5.2-9-4-4-1-0 surredering another Caden Haynes HR (23) and 2 George Wright doubles (his 36th and 37th as he went 3-4 and is now hitting .356). Ken Johnson relieved and punched out 2 in 1.1 perfect innings and Jose Torres worked a perfect 2 (1-1) as Chicago mounted a late comeback, that started with an RBI double (30) by Paul Riggs and RBI single by Jean Chartier in the 8th. Wes Morgan hit a game tying 1 out HR (28) in the 9th that was followed by a Lorenzelli walk, errant pickoff throw that allowed him to 2nd, and an intentional walk to PH Ron Miller, another error, this time by 2B Tony Ruiz loaded the bases and Eric Hudson was hit by Soriano’s first pitch for the ‘walk off’ HBP win…
CHI 5 EP 4 (77-40 +4)

STATS
Gerald Wright (EP) has caught Alberto Vargas (BUF) in homers with 41, which means he now leads all 3 triple crown categories at .356 (11 over Gutierrez) 41 (tied with Vargas) and 125 RBI’s (3 ahead of Alexander).

Vincent Bray (PIT) won his 18th game the other day, and is now well ahead in all three CL pitching triple crown departments at 18-2 (2 over teammate Ramon Roa) 181 K’s (37 ahead of Tulsa’s Esteban Valdez) and 1.96 ERA (almost a full run ahead of Fresno’s Santiago Medina at 2.83)

GAME 118
Spike Davis’ (13-6) slump continued. He went 5-7-6-5-4-3 against a dreadful Battlecats team and is now 1-3 12.38 in his last 4 starts. Michigan Ace Dan Hill (9-4 3.61) who won the 2014 World Series with Philly (and was acquired in a January deal) went 7-6-4-3-3-9 and Sherman Jacobs pitched a perfect 9th for his 27th Save. Paul Riggs went 3-4 with 2 runs on 2 doubles (32) and a triple (4).
MICH 7 CHI 4 (77-41 +4)

GAME 119
Mike Davis (5-1) throws 6.2-5-1-1-0-7 strong innings and Torres (H5), Winston (H8) and Pennington (H12) get the ball into Cruz’s hands for the 9th and after loading the bases he gets his 6th Save. Enrique Yan (8-11) 20 game loser last year, throws a gem (8-5-2-2-3-5) in the loss.
CHI 2 MICH 1 (78-44 +4)

TRADE NEWS
Chris Dixon’s waiver time is up, and I don’t have a spot for him. However Tulsa offers 3B Ambrose Cox, someone they peddled me last year in many of their offers for Ernesto Gutierrez. I’m going to option Ferrer until Dixon clears, or not, and if he doesn’t I’ll likely just have to release him. If I can swing this, Cox is a very good AAA insurance at 3rd with 3 options remaining.

MINORS
Signed 4 minor league free agents, including SS Rafael Garcia. An 8th round HS pick of Fresno in 2014 who was released. Our scouts have him as a potential 4.5 to 5 star kid who can fly, play everywhere and hit A LOT, at 19 he needs time so we gave him the job at Belleview, they’ve been hammered byinjuries.

GAME 120
MacFadden goes down with a stiff back in the 2nd so the pen gets an ‘all hands’ call. Torres (1-2) surrenders 4, 2 earned, in 2.1 IP, throwing 60 pitches (and likely out a few days). Johnson gives up 1 in 2.2 and Moore 1 in 1.1. Former Dayton Dragon Gerald Kelly (2-7) came in with a 9 ERA and held us to 3 runs on 10 hits in 6.1 with Sherman Jacobs getting his 28th Save. Gutierrez went 2-5 with 2 runs, 2 RBI’s and his 7th HR, Alexander went 3-5. Morgan and Riggs had errors and Chris Dixon doubled in his first game back.
MICH 6 CHI 3 (78-42 +3)

INJURY NEWS
Knights 3B Mathew Moore will miss the next 1-2 weeks after a baserunning collision today. The 35 year old is hitting 268-19-57 for New York, who trails Staten Island by 8 games in the Empire Division.

And in the same game New York SS Birger Kjorsvik went down with a shoulder injury and is looking at 2-3 weeks before he returns.

GAMES
Railcats SP Albert Luna tossed a 6 hitter over Philadelphia yesterday. Luna, 24, is struggling this year at 7-10 5.94 after 3 straight 14+ win seasons (20-11, 15-10, 14-10).

GAME 121
On a night we needed the starter to go deep, Alejandrez disappointed again. Lasting just into the 5th 4.2-9-7-7-1-4 when the pen rescued him, and the team with 4.1-3-0-0-2-5. Moore (5-0) Pennington (H13) van Bodegraven (H10) ancd Cruz with a 1 hit 9th for his 7th Save. Ahead 3-0 New York pounced for 6 in the top of the 3rd before Bill Alexander (3-4 2 runs 1 RBI 34th HR) and Wes Morgan (2-4 2 runs 1 RBI 29th HR) went back to back in the 5th to take the lead. Paul Riggs was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 33rd double, Eric Hudson was 1-3 with 2 RBI’s on his 14th double. Lorenzelli stole 2 bases (24) and Feliz his 13th.
CHI 8 NY 7 (79-42 +4)

WEEK 19 RECAP
GAMES
El Paso 1B Tommy Henry went 5-6 with 4 RBI’s on a grand slam in El Paso’s 19-11 win over West Michigan. He’s now hitting .317-18-69 on the year.

El Paso Diablo Gerald Wright continues his MVP season with another FL PotW award. This week he went 16-28 with 4 HR’s and 10 RBI’s and is now hitting .366-43-131 for the year.

24 year old Sacramento River Cat Ramon Cano went 12-24 with 4 HR’s and 12 RBI’s to win CL PotW. For the year Cano is hitting .248-19-52.

IBL Single season record for doubles
Julian Martinez (DAY) 58
Gerald Wright (EP) 51
Felipe Rosa (WMI) 51
Jose Gomez (AZ) 49
Curt Whimster (TUL) 49

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Pittsburgh
4) Las Vegas
5) Columbus

Bottom 5
22) San Antonio
23) New Hampshire
24) Brooklyn
25) West Michigan
26) Corpus Christi

[gehrig38]

For any rabid players, following the thread, I'm in Nashville for the winter meetings, DYING to find a way to play remote on my home machine, but in the meantime I am rereading Orcin's and my thread and editing mine to make the entire thing more uniform, while messing around with the game and settings on this machine to make sure I do it right at home.
If anyone has any questions about the Iron Pigs, players, anyone in the league, teams in the league, or for me, fire away. Have a week of this.

[Wisnoodles]

gehrig38, you can always use LogMeIn as a remote way of playing your league when you are away from your computer. I use it on my tablet. I also play iOOTP on my iphone if you have one, you could check that out too to fulfill your itch.

I just wanted to also say good luck and congrats for being on the HOF ballot this year. I did have a general question about your league, how did you come up with the team names and cities, was it all just random? I ask because I have always wanted to start a fictional league but have had trouble deciding which teams to stick with or change.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by Wisnoodles

gehrig38, you can always use LogMeIn as a remote way of playing your league when you are away from your computer. I use it on my tablet. I also play iOOTP on my iphone if you have one, you could check that out too to fulfill your itch.

I just wanted to also say good luck and congrats for being on the HOF ballot this year. I did have a general question about your league, how did you come up with the team names and cities, was it all just random? I ask because I have always wanted to start a fictional league but have had trouble deciding which teams to stick with or change.

Thank you.

I started and restarted a ton, with the goal to have one randomly generated team name jump out at me, as the franchise I would stake over, and the Iron Pigs won It was a combo of name and logo really.

After that I took the teams and cities the game created and ran with it. I've put a crap ton of hours scouring the net for logos and images to create uni's, hats and what not and to be honest it's been half the fun of playing so far.

I would argue that if I did it over again I'd sim a period of time but then I think about what I'd have missed in these first four seasons and I am ok with it. I say that because in reading Orcin's replay (A MUST for anyone thinking of doing this) the winter and free agency, and arbitration stuff he makes so damn fun and interesting, I am just not entering that phase of my league and really looking forward to it.

[Orcin]

So, now that you have played a while, do you like fictional better than historical or current MLB leagues?

Which do you enjoy more... the pennant race or the off-season?

[gehrig38]

Fictional by LEAPS and bounds. Real players feels like cheating, since I know them all, and know all the minor leagues and what not. Not to mention it's just weird, when players don't 'do' what they're supposed to, it takes away 'realism' for me and makes me cringe when a 'real' player hits 65 homers.

the amount of imagination fictional asks for is how I love to game honestly.

Speaking to that, I am thinking about a new dynasty to play. Starting in 1950, using players from all generations, expanding as the real game did.

I'm thinking I'll just follow along and report on it, maybe taking an expansion team in 20-30 years or something.

[threesportgeek]

It speaks volumes when a person such as yourself makes a statement about playing fictional versus real. I suppose when one looks at it from that standpoint of realism and a true simulation. It is like Marty McFly and his almanac cheating the future. Fiction is what makes this game great. It is players like you that made our past time great. There is no reason to try to rehash history, but it's good to dream.

[threesportgeek]

You should be in Cooperstown. If not, it is a misjustice to baseball. This story of the Iron Pigs, as well as Orcin's Colonels are HOF material for the way you have created, constructed, and played your sims. I am always reading both of your works. I hope you guys keep it going.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by Wisnoodles

gehrig38, you can always use LogMeIn as a remote way of playing your league when you are away from your computer. I use it on my tablet. I also play iOOTP on my iphone if you have one, you could check that out too to fulfill your itch.

Holy crap that was TOO easy! THanks!

[Wisnoodles]

No problem, enjoy! Glad to be of help.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by Orcin

So, now that you have played a while, do you like fictional better than historical or current MLB leagues?

Which do you enjoy more... the pennant race or the off-season?

And to the second part, I am loving the pennant race more now that I am really working and updating more day to day, following games instead of series the last couple weeks. The 1950 MLB league I started has given me some ideas on how to handle this leagues final weeks and pennant, stat races as well.

But I literally cannot wait for the off season, it has as much 'action' as the games do if you like that stuff, and I do.

I imagine as my league moves into it's 5th year and beyond, when true free agency comes into play (and I can make sure my finances are set to give the larger budget and markets more money to spend) the game will open up in a huge new and unique way.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 20
2 vs New York (57-64 8 GB EM)
Off Day
3 @ Buffalo (61-60 4 GB EM)
1 vs West Michigan (45-76 34 GB MW)

GAME 122
Ron Cox had a nightmare 1st after Jode Lopez’s 17th HR made it 4-0. He’d give up another (6.1-9-5-5-2-2) but hold the line, and the pen of van Bodegraven, Pennington and Cruz (1-0) went 3.2-2-0-0-0-3. A Paul Riggs lead off walk, followed by Eric Hudson’s single in the bottom of the 9th made a difference when Jean Chartier drilled a 1 out RBI single and pinch hitter Ron Miller tied the game on a sac fly. Wes Morgan reached leading off the 10th on 3rd baseman Mario Moreno's error, Lorrenzelli walked and 1 out later Riggs walked to load the bases. Nicholas Clark relived Closer Ken Lee and got Hudson on a pop up but Ernesto Gutierrez drills a walk off single on an 0-1 pitch. Chartier went 3-5 2 RBI’s, Hugh Collins hit his 26th HR and Eric Hudson was 4-5 with 2 runs and his 1st triple.
CHI 6 NY 5 (80-42 +5)

INJURY NEWS
Pittsburgh will be without catcher Dana Reed for the next 6 weeks after he fractured a thumb today. In his 3rd year with the Bulldogs Reed was hitting .312-18-68 in 103 games.

MINORS NEWS
Clippers 2014 #1 pick (#3 overall) Mike Jones tossed his 2nd shutout in 2 weeks in AA today. He’s 4-0 1.60 in 6 AA starts. The 20 year old looks to be a strong 2015 rotation candidate.

GAME 123
Ken Johnson (SV 26) has earned his place. The setup man turned closer turned setup man again was in for a tired Ernesto Cruz and got the final 4 outs after Spike Davis (14-6) went 7-4-4-4-1-5 and Winston (H9) and Torres (H6) got the game into the 8th. Down early again the Iron Pigs scored 1 in the 6th, and 3 in the 7th to grab and hold the lead, and the game. Ernesto Gutierrez was 103 with 2 runs, Raul Feliz 2-5 with a run and Bill Alexander went 1-4 with a run and 2 RBI’s on his 3rd triple. Massi Lorenzelli drilled his 8th HR in a 1-4 2 RBI day. Lopez (3) Lorenzelli (25) and Riggs (10) stole bases.
CHI 6 NY 4 (81-42 +5)

INJURY NEWS
Greyhounds slugger Luis Rios (8th all time in IBL HR’s with 134) will miss at least another week. The 34 year old is working with a bad calf.

GAME 124
Bison SP Jim Peck (10-8 3.71) went 8-4-0-0-3-6 in shutting us down tonight. Worse yet, Mike Davis (5-2) is hurt again. Not sure how bad yet. He went 4.2-1-2-2-3-5.
BUF 4 CHI 0 (81-43 +5)

INJURY NEWS
Davis is ok, nothing serious but it’ll be a few days, bad back again. I think it’s time to seriously consider moving him, if I can, this winter. He’s not going to get healthier.

GAME 125
My leadoff hitter went 6-6 with 2 doubles, a HR (27) and 4 runs, 2 RBI’s. The problem is that was 4-4 from Ernesto Gutierrez, who then got hurt, and Hugh Collins (trying to sit off a slump) 2-2. Paul Riggs went 3-4 2 runs 3 RBI’s on his 35th double and Dan MacFadden (8-7) went 6-6-5-5-3-2. Ryan Pennington (SV 4) got the final 6 after we busted it open in the 9th.
CHI 11 BUF 6 (82-43 +6)

INJURY NEWS
Gutierrez is nothing major, Dtd stuff but we’ll use Miller a few days to make sure it all heals up.

GAME 126
A bad pitching move ALMOST cost us the game. It did cost Alejandrez the W. He went 7-6-2-2-4-6 and his leadoff 8th inning baserunner couldn’t be kept off the board by reliever Mike Moore. But Dave Winston (1-1) got out of a jam and then Ernesto Cruz slammed the door for his 8th Save. Alexanders RBI single in the top half of the 9th scored PR Alfredo Lopez after Eric Hudson led off with a single. Paul Riggs hit his 36th double.
CHI 3 BUF 2 (83-43 +7)

GAME 127
Richard Cox (10-4) lets the White Caps creep back in after throwing 5 strong innings. He goes 6.1-7-5-5-6-8 and Winston (H10) and Cruz (SV 9) slam the door. Gutierrez scores 3 times and Feliz, Collins and Alexander have 2 hit days. Alexander drives in 2 in a day of rest for some regulars.
CHI 8 WMI 5 (84-43 +8)

WEEK 20 RECAP
FL POTW-Roberto Villalobos (GB) 11-23 3 HR’s 7 RBI’s (.324-7-34 79)
CL POTW-Kevin Moore (NH) 13-26 1 HR 6 RBI’s (.322-16-82)

ORG NEWS
Alejandro Sotolo took home UL POTW for Tulsa going 7-12 2 HR’s 5 RBI’s. He’s hitting .250-14-50 this year in Tulsa but has been hurt a bit too much. I want him as a backup infielder but he doesn’t defend well anywhere but 2nd. Hoping he can get hot this last month and be a chip at the winter meetings.

INJURY NEWS
El Paso SP Artie Johnson will miss the remainder of the 2015 season after labrum surgery today. The 23 year old was 6-4 4.13 in 13 starts for the big club.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Pittsburgh
4) Las Vegas
5) Baltimore

Bottom 5
22) New Hampshire
23) San Antonio
24) Brooklyn
25) Corpus Christi
26) West Michigan

[gehrig38]

Been at the winter meetings (BTW, Phils, if they seriously want to trade Cliff Lee, need to do it for Ellsbury, Boston will take the money). Been goofing around with my 1950 all time MLB league in this forum, and away from my Chicago cllub (Btw, picked something up I'll try and screenshot and post, but here is an up to date standings and leaders board with some new stuff added. Worked hard on new logo's and new looks.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 21
2 vs West Michigan (45-82 39 GB MW)
3 @ Brooklyn (47-80 20 GB EMP)
2 vs Columbus (76-51 8 GB MW +10 in the WC)

GAME 128
Spike Davis (14-7) gives up a 4 spot in the 4th and never recovers. Van Bodegraven lets it get away with 3 in 2/3rds of an inning. Davis goes 7.1-7-5-5-0-7. Hugh Collins goes 2-5 with a run and an RBI on his 28th HR, Morgan goes 2-2 with an RBI and Paul Riggs hits his 37th double.
WMI 8 CHI 2 (84-44 +7)

LEAGUE NEWS
The El Paso Diablos have the IBL’s best record at 91-37 partly due to their 11 game winning streak. They are 20-2 in August with losses to Staten Island on the 4th (11-1) and us on the 12th (5-4). They look to be a lock to break the Los Angeles Wizards (then Sky Sox) 2014 IBL record of 100 wins. The are 1st in runs (866), 2nd in Avg (.292) 2nd on OBP (.368) 1st in HR’s (229) 1st in Runs against (576) Starters ERA (4.09).

GAME 129
Mike Davis (5-3) control problems surface yet again. 4 walks in the 6th doom him, and us, to a 5-3 loss. He went 5.1-4-3-2-4-7. Hugh Collins goes 2-4 with his 29th HR, driving in 2 (93) and Hudson goes 2-4 and Lopez 2-3. Eric Hudson gets banged up behind the plate and is going to be sore for a few days which means I’ll likely rest him a bit, with Flores out for the year we are thin at backstop.
WMI 5 CHI 3 (84-45 +6)

GAME 130
Paul Riggs goes 3-5 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s (72) on his 6th HR and Bill Alexander drives in 4 (134) in a 2-5 day with his 35th HR. Jesus Fuentes doubles twice (4) and scores 2 times to give Dan MacFadden his 9th wiin (9-7). He goes 6-8-4-4-2-5 and Winston, Torres (H7) and van Bodegraven go 3-3-0-0-1-2.
CHI 11 BRO 4 (85-45 +6)

GAME 131
Alejandrez (15-5) goes the distance 9-7-2-2-0-8 in what I hope is resurgence for the next 2 months. The offense busts out for 15 runs on 16 hits with Riggs (2-4 2 runs on his 38th double) Collins 2-3 4 runs 3 RBI’s (96) on 2 HR’s (31) and Chartier (3-4 3 runs 4 RBI’s (111) on a double (20) and 2 HR’s (22) lead the way. Wes Morgan goes 2-5 with his 30th HR and drives in 4 (99) and Massi Lorenzelli goes 2-5 and steals 3 bases (29).
CHI 15 BRO 2 (86-45 +6)

GAME 132
An 8-3-4-0-2-5 line is a great game, for Richard Cox it’s loss #5 as shoddy defense was damning today. A passed ball and crucial 2 out Lorenzelli error (his 14th) killed us. Wes Morgan went 1-4 with his 31st HR.
BRO 4 CHI 2 (86-46 +5)

ROSTER NEWS
26 year old Elijah Walton, a potential candidate for the rotation when we dealt Melvin Watson for him back in January, is back from a 5 month DL stint and will finish the year getting a couple AAA rehab starts before winter ball.

GAME 133
Big 3 game set with 2nd place Columbus. A sweep either way has immense implications. We sweep them and it’s 8 with a month to play, they sweep us and it’s 2, and a race to the finish.

After a 1st inning hiccup Spike Davis (15-7) was dominant. Going 8-5-2-2-1-6 with Pennington (H14) and Cruz (SV 10) closing it out. The offense drilled 3 HR’s with Alexander (36) Gutierrez (8) and Feliz (7) hitting 1 each. Alexander was 3-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s (136).
CHI 5 COL 2 (87-47 +6)

INJURY NEWS
Bulldog bullpen ace Joe Boswell will miss the next 3 weeks with a sore shoulder as Pittsburgh is taking every precaution heading into the playoffs. They are 16 up on Baltimore and cruising, and he’s one of the big reasons why. His 136 career saves rank 5th in IBL history. He’s 4-1 with 40 Saves this season and a 0.86 ERA and owns a career 1.44 ERA in 249 games over 288 IP.

BIG GAME NEWS
Railcat SP Fernando Martinez tossed a 3 hitter at Los Angeles to beat the Wizards 6-0 and move to 10-8 4.97 on the season. The 26 year old is coming off a strong 12-9 3.83 2014 season.

GAME 134
The offense comes to play today. Ernesto Gutierrez leads it off with a 3-5 2 run 2 RBI (49) day, Bill Alexander goes 2-4 with a run and 2 RBI’s (138) and Wes Morgan hits his 32nd HR. Raul Feliz goes 2-5 with 2 runs, 3 RBI’s (36) on a double (12) and a bases clearing triple (2). Paul Riggs hits his 39th double in a 2-5 2 run 2 RBI (74) 2 RBI day. Mike Davis (6-3) was as good as he needed to be I guess, a 6-12-6-6-0-6 with 3 HR’s.
CHI 13 COL 7 (88-47 +7)

WEEK 21 RECAP
FL POTW-Caden Haynes (EP) 11-27 4 HR’s 5 RBI’s (.307-29-94)
CL POTW-Howard Mathis (SAC) 14-29 2 HR’s 6 RBI’s 12 Runs (.301-9-32)

WEEK 21 IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Pittsburgh
4) Columbus
5) Edmonton

Bottom 5
22) Brooklyn
23) San Antonio
24) New Hampshire
25) Corpus Christi
26) West Michigan


GAME 135
A 6 run first ended this one about the time it began. Ron Miller went 2-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s (45) and his 12th HR, Wes Morgan was 2-4 with 2 runs, 3 RBI’s (104) and his 33rd homer. Paul Riggs went 2-5, scored once and drove in one on his 7th HR. Dan MacFAdden battled and ended up going 7-3-1-1-3-4 for his 10th win (10-7). A 3 game sweep to end August and open up an 8 game lead.
CHI 9 COL 1 (89-46 +8)

AUGUST RECAP

BIG GAMES
Patriot CF Jose Rodriguez went 5-5 in a 5-3 Philly win over New Hampshire.

White Cap starter Steve Dunlap threw a 1 hitter in Dayton today, beating the Dragons 6-0 to move to 11-12 4.81 on the season.

Will Harris (AZ) gave up just 3 hits in a 5-0 win over El Paso. The win made Harris 2-6 6.58 on the year as the 22 year old 33rd round inaugural pick continued his work in the Greyhound rotation.

Vincente Romero tossed a 5 hitter in a 15-0 Sacramento drubbing of Las Vegas. The win was Romero’s 14th, marking the 4th straight IBL season he’s won 14 or more (21, 17, 17, 14)

AUGUST FL MVP-Gerald Wright (EP) .400-9-35 with 29 Runs (.359-47-149)
AUGUST CL MVP-Rich Alfred (TUL) .387-7-20 with 19 Runs (.296-20-61)
AUGUST FL PITCHER-Walt Thompson (BRO) 5-1 2.61 42 K’s (16-10 3.77)
AUGUST CL PITCHER-George Perkins (TUL) 6-0 2.11 35 K’s (17-5 3.53)
AUGUST FL ROOKIE-Luis Chavez (EDM) .351-8-20 (.275-9-32)
AUGUST CL ROOKIE-Rich Alfred (TUL)

[gehrig38]

A look around on 9/1/15, with the final stretch incoming.

[gehrig38]

The FL statistical leaders

[gehrig38]

The Coastal League leaders heading down the stretch.