The Independent Baseball League

Hank Greenberg · 06-09-2004, 05:53 PM

The Independent Baseball League was created in order to provide the players more benefits then Major League Baseball, as well as to provide high quaility baseball for other cities, mostly in the midwest and west coast.

The league was thought of and formed by a group of nearly 200 players, most of which sick of the poor treatment, and pay, provided by the owenrs of Major League teams. In 1899 the dream became a possibility and by 1901 the league was ready for play.

The IBL was not meant to compete with Major League Baseball directly, there were several alterations to how baseball would be played. They used a slightly lower mound and a slightly differnt, more tightly wound, ball. They also used smaller, less open, stadiums and allowed batters to use bats that had a wider range then those the MLB allowed. The inital scrimages showed that the Home Run became a much more common occurence.

The leauge also avoided getting to close to markets with MLB clubs, while some are close, they are still far enough away to provide an alternative to MLB play for many people.

The biggest difference in the league however is there are no team owners. All revenues are divided between the players nearly equally, with some bounus's for great performances. Most teams hired a few coach's and executives to run the farm system however.

Another difference is how the players enter the league, and the players that make the leauge up. Unlike Major League baseball, black, hispanics and Asians are allowed to play. Also unlike MLB, all players wishing to enter the league must do so through an amateur draft.

The league is split into two leagues, Eastern and Western, 10 teams are in each league. The winner of each league will meet in a best of 9 series, the IBL cup, to determine the champion.

Eastern League:
Albany Arrowheads
Ann Arbor Crusaders
Athens Olympians
Concorde Kings
Columbus Cougars
Erie Aces
Madison Miracle
Memphis Mavericks
Miami Blue Wave
South Bend Sluggers

Western League:
Boise Bison
El Paso Rattlers
Joplin Knights
Las Vegas Sandstorm
Lincoln Cornhuskers
New Orleans Norseman
Oklahoma City Red Bandits
Portland Admirals
Sacramento Seawolves
Salt Lake Miners

-- Financials Off (The AI is just too stupid)
-- Waivers Off (^^)
-- Player Development is at +100, Also -10 decrease
-- Rule V is on
-- 40 man is on
-- Minor League Option Years are off
-- No Ratings/No Stars/No Talent (1-5 on others)
-- Ill control Ann Arbor, Il update the that team every two weeks, the league every month.
-- Coach's/Scouts are Off
-- Injuries Normal
-- Era is 1960s, 4 man rotation is normal, stealing often, favor speed
-- All Parks are +/- 20 points from 100 in all values, most are within +-10.

NYJuggalo45 · 06-09-2004, 07:53 PM

very nice concept, will be looking forward to what "real" players are included in the league

Hank Greenberg · 06-10-2004, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NYJuggalo45
very nice concept, will be looking forward to what "real" players are included in the league

I wouldn't look for many. I may add a few of my personal favorites from history (Greenberg, Kaline, McClain, Maris, Gibson, Koufax) but only time will tell.

Hank Greenberg · 06-10-2004, 08:03 PM

The IBL's schedule is a unique design.

Each team will play 24 week long (6 game) series from April to the end of September. These are not all balanced, some teams will face others three times, while others only two. Each Monday is also an off-day.

Following the 24 week long series, there will be a 4 day break (Mon-Thurs) for the All-Star game.

Following the All-Star game, each team will face the other 9 teams of the league over the course of 17 days (off-day between each game) to end the season.

Each team will play 153 games.

The Schedule is designed to ease travel (once a week instead of several times like Major League Baseball) as well as too make sure each cities fans face the best pitchers their opponent has.

The End of Year Round Robin was created for a few years, obviously the extra gate prices are a plus, however, down the stretch, all contending teams will face each other and have a very similar schedule, thus evening things for two weeks to crown a true champion. This, also unlike Major League Baseball, since teams may not play each other for a month and a half at the end of the season to decide the champions.

Hank Greenberg · 06-11-2004, 05:43 PM

Ann Arbor Crusaders

Pitching Staff:

Robert "Slim" Pilon- The first overall pick in the draft a 20 year old. Hes got good pure stuff and a dominating fastball in the high 90s. He's got very good control as well, though sometimes too good, as he throws too many pitch's for strikes which lead to a few more HRs then one would like. He gets the nickname "Slim" because hes 6"8 but only weights 200 lbs.

Willie Roland- Wasnt drafted untill the 7th round because he has pretty weak duration for a starter...and was actually thought of as a MR by some. He isnt a dominator like Pilon, but he doesn't have a weakness. He's 29 years old.

Jared Byrnes- The 33 year old is a control expert with lacking stuff. He's got a below average fastball, but his pitch's dont have a lot of bite in em. He does keep the ball low and on the corners so he gets a lot of groundballs.

Gregory Johnson- 27 year old in a similar fashion of Byrnes. Not great pure stuff, but good control. His pitch's do move quite a bit more, but still dont have the bite a strikeout pitcher does. He also gets a lot of ground balls.

Bullpen:
Ronnie Frazen- The pen is really built around Frazen. He can dominate hitters, hit his spots and keeps the ball low and on the corners, a lot of grounders and few homers. Hes only 26 as well. Look for him to pickup a LOT of innings out of the pen.

Donald Aoki- A solid reliever if nothing more. Gets some K's, has good control but will give up some HRs as well. Hes 33 years old.

Kendrick Stjean- Another young'n at 26 hes used primarily vs leftys, and that he can do very well. He isn't much vs right handed batters, but isnt really a liability either.

Arthur Poovey- A 22 year old who hasn't shown a ton of potential, but at such a young age he has time to breakthrough. He's got decent stuff and good control along with decent movement, but he doesn't have much oppurtunity to get out of his long relief/mopup spot.

Edward Liu- ^^^ Exactly the same.

Lineup:

LF: Bill Hollins- Can you say Rob Deer? The 24 year old OF has great power and a great eye, but may strugle too hit .240. Hes got good range and a great arm. He also a decent SB threat.

Michael King- a LF/CF with great range. Not much of a hitter, he'll stay a backup.

CF: Edmund Stowe- A gold glove fielder with a bat made of straw. He can make decent contact and has so-so power, but cant take a walk for his life. Hes 27, has some pretty speed and is a great bunter.

Robert Zambrana- A CF/RF with average range. Hes 31, can steal a lot base's (pinch runner) and has decent contact ability with some gap power. Wont hit many HR, and wont walk a lot.

RF: John Jessup - Another gold glove defender. Has weak contact ability but can take some walks and hit some jacks along with a few doubles. But hes mainly on for his glove. 32 years old.

3B: Daniel Jackson - A good leadoff hitter, hits for a high average and can take some walks. Has good gap power and can steal his fair share of base's. Not much range, but he has a cannon for an arm. 29 years old.

Ryan Lasseter- Some power off the bench, nothing more, nothing less. Not much contact and doesn't take many walks. Hes a decent pinch hitter vs Lefties.

SS: Brian Virgil - A good #2 hitter, has nice contact and walking skills, very good speed, but only average instincts. The most important aspect of his game though, is his gold glove defence. 29 years old.

Robert Smith- A capable pinch hitter, he plays 3B/SS/2B. Not much of a defender, but has nice contact ability which will keep him on the roster.

2B: Chester Fullman - An amazing defender at 2B, with decent batting skills. He hits for an ok average, has some nice gap power and can take some walks, but like Virgil, is on for his glove. 31 years old.

Elden Creel- Nearly identical to Fullman, not quite as good of a hitter as Fullman which is why hes on the bench, but hes a gold glove defender as well.

1B: Hayden Warden - He has amazing power and will draw some walks, but is not much of an average hitter. But he has GREAT power...oh and hes only 25.

Leslie Fouse- A pretty good all around hitter, averge contact, power and eye, makes a very nice pinch hitter. 33 years old.

Gregory Go- A 31 year old, he's a great pinch runner with good power and a decent eye. Not much of a contact hitter though.

C: Jonathan Windle - Good power, but no patience and only average contact ability. He has a pretty average arm, he's 30 years old.

Trevor Chouinard- 25 year old, he'll get some ABs as hes a much better OBP guy then Windle, but doesn't have the power.

Lineup:
Jackson
Virgil
Warden
Hollins
Windle
Fulmer
Stowe
Jessup

(swap Virgil and Jackson vs LHP).

Overall, this is a VERY VERY good defensive team with good pitching. Theres quite a bit of power in the lineup as well as some good speed, too bad outside of Jackson and Virgil there isn't one lock for .250 on the team....

theasfl · 06-11-2004, 09:09 PM

good you put in a team I can root for this time

Hank Greenberg · 06-11-2004, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by theasfl
good you put in a team I can root for this time

I was gonna put it in Orlando, then I thought about you

.

If anyones interested in why the TABA died...

The AI is just too damn stupid. Between all the prospects that were getting waived (including two members of my staff who pitched well) and the senseless FA (not signing the BOTY, trading OF's that you could have resigned just too pay more).

The game just cant handle financials (or waivers) at this point, and I feel that league was already ruined by it .

I did run two simmed seasons after I stopped and SUmmers won both POTY, went 46-10 combined.... (of course, the AI just traded Beckham for no good reaosn).

Hank Greenberg · 06-13-2004, 05:37 PM

May 2nd
------
------
------
Eastern League:
Ann Arbor 14-4
South Bend 13-5
Madison 10-8
Miami 9-9
Albany 8-10
Athens 8-10
Columbus 8-10
Concorde 8-10
Erie 7-11
Memphis 5-13

Western League:
Lincoln 12-6
New Orleans 12-6
Boise 10-8
Salt Lake 10-8
El Paso 9-9
Las Vegas 9-9
Portland 8-10
Sacramento 8-10
Oklahoma City 7-11
Joplin 5-13
---------
---------
---------
In the Eastern League Ann Arbor jumped out too an early lead off the big bag of Hayden Warden who hit 8 HRs, and two timely HRs from Bill Hollins who hit 2 HRs in the bottom of the 9th to tie or win a game. South Bend went with pitching over hitting, backed by Michael Konrad who went 5-0 and Alvin Donnellan who went 3-1 with a 1.67ERA. Madison split with Ann Arbor to end the season, they've accomplished eveythring though hitting, with a balanced threat with 4 players which have over 5 HR at this point, the group is lead by Daniel "Groove Thing" Riddick whos hitting .329 with 6HR and 7 stea.s

The Western League is being paced by New Orleans which boost the leagues top offence, with 3 players hitting over .360, the leader is Shawn Jackson who is comming in at a .434 clip along with 4 HRs. New Orleans is doing it with pitching, "Steady" Eddie Taylor, 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA with 54Ks in 41IP and Neville Epp, 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 2 starts. Salt Lakes ties for the best staff thus far, with all 4 starters posting sub 3 ERAs despite non having much above .500 records.

Batters of the Month:
Geraldo Chapman-1B- Miami - The 34 year old 13th round pick wins his first batter of the month award, he hit .324/.351 /.716/1.067 with 6HRs and 21 RBIs.

Jonathan Dearborn-CF-Salt Lake - The 30 year old first rounder (11ovr) is one of the few reasons Salt Lake jumped out too a big start. Hes propelled a less than spectacular offence and backed up a mediocre pitching staff. .406/.476/.811/1.287

Pitchers of the Month:
Alvin Donellan-South Bend - A 26 year old that went in the 2nd round, he went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA , with 42 strikeouts in 37.2 IP.

"Steady" Eddy Taylor-Lincoln = A 29 year old fifth overall pick, the strikeout king has 54Ks too only 8 walks in 41 innings. He is 3-1 with 1.98 ERA..

Hank Greenberg · 06-13-2004, 06:06 PM

Ann Arbor Crusaders Report

A small directors note, but I screwed up the first week of the schedule (changed the start date by two days) so I ended up playing a double header...well actually two. Nothing overly bad happened though

.

We came out crushing the ball. Hayden Warden hit 5 HRs vs Albany in the opening series of the season. We ended up taking 5 out of the 6 vs them. Liu and Poovey picked up wins in double header starts, though neither pitched overly well. Gregory Johnson was the only pitcher to lose.

Next up we played Athens in a less than dramatic series. After three less than thrilling victories, Bill Hollins hits a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 10th. After another convincing victory, Hollins hits a shot too tie it in the bottom of the 9th again vs Athens, Windle hit a single to win it in the 10th. Pilon picked up two wins during this series, striking out 12 and 13. We swept the entire 6 game series.

Next stop was Madison, which actually put up a fight. After a thrilling 16 inning contest in which Rolden-Stjean-Liu and Frazen blank the Miracle, Windle comes through again, hitting a solo shot in the top of the 16th to win the game 1-0 in 16. The offence went into a funk for the next three games though, only managin 5 runs in the three loss's (but the pitching was good). We came back and won the final two games of the series to earn a split in the series.

Daniel Jackson has been awesome, hitting .390 with 3HR with Virgil a ways back a .333. Warden has 9 bombs already while hitting .260 (.365 OBP) and 21 RBI, pacing the EL in HR and RBI. Hollins has struggled hitting singles, but has a nice OBP (.345) along with 3HR and 5doubles (vs only 5 singles).

Frazen hasn't given up a run in 11 innings earning 6 saves. The staff has been so-so, they had some rough starts early (mainly Byrns and Johnson) but Pilon is 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA and Roldan is 3-0 with a 2.45. Pilon has given up 8HR in 34IP....I knew he was going to give up some HRs, but I thats ridiculous, I was thinking 5 tops at this piont.

Down on the Farm...

AAA...no specs
AA:
Justin Downing- 23 years old with a lot of potential. He gets ground balls and has a good fastball (93-96) and good stuff. He should be up in 2 or 3 years, if not earlier. Hes struggling in AA ball though, 1-2 wiht a 4.40 ERA with 10 walks in 30 innings. He does have 36Ks atleast.

Alexander "The Thinker" Hardy- 22 year old with a world of potential. The first sacker has had a mixed start, 2 HRs and a .356 OBP, but only hitting in the .240s and is slugging just .364. Hes a big time prospect though.

A:
Bill Arden- A Catcher (and 1B), he's 20 years old so he has time to develop still. Like Hardy, having .364 OBP, but hitting below the Mendozza line. Has 2 HR and just 1 double... not big power yet. He s got a decent arm and can steal base's with the best of em.

Robert Carpa- A pretty good pitching prospect, doesn't look like an ace when I drafted him, but has put up good #s so far. Hes 0-2 despite an amazing 2.10 ERA. In 34 innings hes walked way too many (15), but has struck out 34. Hes got a good fastball (91-94) gets a lot of ground balls and has great stamina.

William Neuhaus- 19 year old, is 1-0 with a 2.02 ERA. Good control (9 walks in 34.1IP) but isn't a big K guy (only 23). Doesn't have the great fastball, but does get groundballs and has decent stamina. Not a ton of upside, but he could stick around.

Jason Blakes- 18 years old, decent fastball. Average stamina and not really a ground ball pitcher. He hasn't pitched much this year (I had him as my 5th starter in a 4 man rotation...). He'll most likely come out of the pen if he ever makes it.

Nobody else of note really....

Overall I have a decent farm, but its very thin. I have some good top tier talent, but not many average prospects that will just fill a roster spot for me. I dont expect too see anyone up all that soon either.

06-09-2004, 05:53 PM	#1
Hank Greenberg Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 460	The Independent Baseball League The Independent Baseball League was created in order to provide the players more benefits then Major League Baseball, as well as to provide high quaility baseball for other cities, mostly in the midwest and west coast. The league was thought of and formed by a group of nearly 200 players, most of which sick of the poor treatment, and pay, provided by the owenrs of Major League teams. In 1899 the dream became a possibility and by 1901 the league was ready for play. The IBL was not meant to compete with Major League Baseball directly, there were several alterations to how baseball would be played. They used a slightly lower mound and a slightly differnt, more tightly wound, ball. They also used smaller, less open, stadiums and allowed batters to use bats that had a wider range then those the MLB allowed. The inital scrimages showed that the Home Run became a much more common occurence. The leauge also avoided getting to close to markets with MLB clubs, while some are close, they are still far enough away to provide an alternative to MLB play for many people. The biggest difference in the league however is there are no team owners. All revenues are divided between the players nearly equally, with some bounus's for great performances. Most teams hired a few coach's and executives to run the farm system however. Another difference is how the players enter the league, and the players that make the leauge up. Unlike Major League baseball, black, hispanics and Asians are allowed to play. Also unlike MLB, all players wishing to enter the league must do so through an amateur draft. The league is split into two leagues, Eastern and Western, 10 teams are in each league. The winner of each league will meet in a best of 9 series, the IBL cup, to determine the champion. Eastern League: Albany Arrowheads Ann Arbor Crusaders Athens Olympians Concorde Kings Columbus Cougars Erie Aces Madison Miracle Memphis Mavericks Miami Blue Wave South Bend Sluggers Western League: Boise Bison El Paso Rattlers Joplin Knights Las Vegas Sandstorm Lincoln Cornhuskers New Orleans Norseman Oklahoma City Red Bandits Portland Admirals Sacramento Seawolves Salt Lake Miners -- Financials Off (The AI is just too stupid) -- Waivers Off (^^) -- Player Development is at +100, Also -10 decrease -- Rule V is on -- 40 man is on -- Minor League Option Years are off -- No Ratings/No Stars/No Talent (1-5 on others) -- Ill control Ann Arbor, Il update the that team every two weeks, the league every month. -- Coach's/Scouts are Off -- Injuries Normal -- Era is 1960s, 4 man rotation is normal, stealing often, favor speed -- All Parks are +/- 20 points from 100 in all values, most are within +-10. Last edited by Hank Greenberg; 06-09-2004 at 06:47 PM.

06-11-2004, 09:09 PM	#6
theasfl Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Coral Springs, FL or Orlando, FL (UCF) Posts: 7,988	good you put in a team I can root for this time __________________ All-Sports Fantasy League The ASFL 22 different games, 9 sports. Please check out the website (www.theasfl.com/asfl2/). The league is free- if you're interested please fill out the signup form and/or email the commissioner. Miami Talons (ABL): 2004, 2005 & 2008 Champs

06-09-2004, 07:53 PM	#2
NYJuggalo45 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 2,045	very nice concept, will be looking forward to what "real" players are included in the league __________________ This space for rent

06-10-2004, 08:03 PM	#4
Hank Greenberg Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 460	The IBL's schedule is a unique design. Each team will play 24 week long (6 game) series from April to the end of September. These are not all balanced, some teams will face others three times, while others only two. Each Monday is also an off-day. Following the 24 week long series, there will be a 4 day break (Mon-Thurs) for the All-Star game. Following the All-Star game, each team will face the other 9 teams of the league over the course of 17 days (off-day between each game) to end the season. Each team will play 153 games. The Schedule is designed to ease travel (once a week instead of several times like Major League Baseball) as well as too make sure each cities fans face the best pitchers their opponent has. The End of Year Round Robin was created for a few years, obviously the extra gate prices are a plus, however, down the stretch, all contending teams will face each other and have a very similar schedule, thus evening things for two weeks to crown a true champion. This, also unlike Major League Baseball, since teams may not play each other for a month and a half at the end of the season to decide the champions.

06-11-2004, 05:43 PM	#5
Hank Greenberg Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 460	Ann Arbor Crusaders Pitching Staff: Robert "Slim" Pilon- The first overall pick in the draft a 20 year old. Hes got good pure stuff and a dominating fastball in the high 90s. He's got very good control as well, though sometimes too good, as he throws too many pitch's for strikes which lead to a few more HRs then one would like. He gets the nickname "Slim" because hes 6"8 but only weights 200 lbs. Willie Roland- Wasnt drafted untill the 7th round because he has pretty weak duration for a starter...and was actually thought of as a MR by some. He isnt a dominator like Pilon, but he doesn't have a weakness. He's 29 years old. Jared Byrnes- The 33 year old is a control expert with lacking stuff. He's got a below average fastball, but his pitch's dont have a lot of bite in em. He does keep the ball low and on the corners so he gets a lot of groundballs. Gregory Johnson- 27 year old in a similar fashion of Byrnes. Not great pure stuff, but good control. His pitch's do move quite a bit more, but still dont have the bite a strikeout pitcher does. He also gets a lot of ground balls. Bullpen: Ronnie Frazen- The pen is really built around Frazen. He can dominate hitters, hit his spots and keeps the ball low and on the corners, a lot of grounders and few homers. Hes only 26 as well. Look for him to pickup a LOT of innings out of the pen. Donald Aoki- A solid reliever if nothing more. Gets some K's, has good control but will give up some HRs as well. Hes 33 years old. Kendrick Stjean- Another young'n at 26 hes used primarily vs leftys, and that he can do very well. He isn't much vs right handed batters, but isnt really a liability either. Arthur Poovey- A 22 year old who hasn't shown a ton of potential, but at such a young age he has time to breakthrough. He's got decent stuff and good control along with decent movement, but he doesn't have much oppurtunity to get out of his long relief/mopup spot. Edward Liu- ^^^ Exactly the same. Lineup: LF: Bill Hollins- Can you say Rob Deer? The 24 year old OF has great power and a great eye, but may strugle too hit .240. Hes got good range and a great arm. He also a decent SB threat. Michael King- a LF/CF with great range. Not much of a hitter, he'll stay a backup. CF: Edmund Stowe- A gold glove fielder with a bat made of straw. He can make decent contact and has so-so power, but cant take a walk for his life. Hes 27, has some pretty speed and is a great bunter. Robert Zambrana- A CF/RF with average range. Hes 31, can steal a lot base's (pinch runner) and has decent contact ability with some gap power. Wont hit many HR, and wont walk a lot. RF: John Jessup - Another gold glove defender. Has weak contact ability but can take some walks and hit some jacks along with a few doubles. But hes mainly on for his glove. 32 years old. 3B: Daniel Jackson - A good leadoff hitter, hits for a high average and can take some walks. Has good gap power and can steal his fair share of base's. Not much range, but he has a cannon for an arm. 29 years old. Ryan Lasseter- Some power off the bench, nothing more, nothing less. Not much contact and doesn't take many walks. Hes a decent pinch hitter vs Lefties. SS: Brian Virgil - A good #2 hitter, has nice contact and walking skills, very good speed, but only average instincts. The most important aspect of his game though, is his gold glove defence. 29 years old. Robert Smith- A capable pinch hitter, he plays 3B/SS/2B. Not much of a defender, but has nice contact ability which will keep him on the roster. 2B: Chester Fullman - An amazing defender at 2B, with decent batting skills. He hits for an ok average, has some nice gap power and can take some walks, but like Virgil, is on for his glove. 31 years old. Elden Creel- Nearly identical to Fullman, not quite as good of a hitter as Fullman which is why hes on the bench, but hes a gold glove defender as well. 1B: Hayden Warden - He has amazing power and will draw some walks, but is not much of an average hitter. But he has GREAT power...oh and hes only 25. Leslie Fouse- A pretty good all around hitter, averge contact, power and eye, makes a very nice pinch hitter. 33 years old. Gregory Go- A 31 year old, he's a great pinch runner with good power and a decent eye. Not much of a contact hitter though. C: Jonathan Windle - Good power, but no patience and only average contact ability. He has a pretty average arm, he's 30 years old. Trevor Chouinard- 25 year old, he'll get some ABs as hes a much better OBP guy then Windle, but doesn't have the power. Lineup: Jackson Virgil Warden Hollins Windle Fulmer Stowe Jessup (swap Virgil and Jackson vs LHP). Overall, this is a VERY VERY good defensive team with good pitching. Theres quite a bit of power in the lineup as well as some good speed, too bad outside of Jackson and Virgil there isn't one lock for .250 on the team....

06-13-2004, 05:37 PM	#8
Hank Greenberg Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 460	May 2nd ------ ------ ------ Eastern League: Ann Arbor 14-4 South Bend 13-5 Madison 10-8 Miami 9-9 Albany 8-10 Athens 8-10 Columbus 8-10 Concorde 8-10 Erie 7-11 Memphis 5-13 Western League: Lincoln 12-6 New Orleans 12-6 Boise 10-8 Salt Lake 10-8 El Paso 9-9 Las Vegas 9-9 Portland 8-10 Sacramento 8-10 Oklahoma City 7-11 Joplin 5-13 --------- --------- --------- In the Eastern League Ann Arbor jumped out too an early lead off the big bag of Hayden Warden who hit 8 HRs, and two timely HRs from Bill Hollins who hit 2 HRs in the bottom of the 9th to tie or win a game. South Bend went with pitching over hitting, backed by Michael Konrad who went 5-0 and Alvin Donnellan who went 3-1 with a 1.67ERA. Madison split with Ann Arbor to end the season, they've accomplished eveythring though hitting, with a balanced threat with 4 players which have over 5 HR at this point, the group is lead by Daniel "Groove Thing" Riddick whos hitting .329 with 6HR and 7 stea.s The Western League is being paced by New Orleans which boost the leagues top offence, with 3 players hitting over .360, the leader is Shawn Jackson who is comming in at a .434 clip along with 4 HRs. New Orleans is doing it with pitching, "Steady" Eddie Taylor, 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA with 54Ks in 41IP and Neville Epp, 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 2 starts. Salt Lakes ties for the best staff thus far, with all 4 starters posting sub 3 ERAs despite non having much above .500 records. Batters of the Month: Geraldo Chapman-1B- Miami - The 34 year old 13th round pick wins his first batter of the month award, he hit .324/.351 /.716/1.067 with 6HRs and 21 RBIs. Jonathan Dearborn-CF-Salt Lake - The 30 year old first rounder (11ovr) is one of the few reasons Salt Lake jumped out too a big start. Hes propelled a less than spectacular offence and backed up a mediocre pitching staff. .406/.476/.811/1.287 Pitchers of the Month: Alvin Donellan-South Bend - A 26 year old that went in the 2nd round, he went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA , with 42 strikeouts in 37.2 IP. "Steady" Eddy Taylor-Lincoln = A 29 year old fifth overall pick, the strikeout king has 54Ks too only 8 walks in 41 innings. He is 3-1 with 1.98 ERA..

06-13-2004, 06:06 PM	#9
Hank Greenberg Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 460	Ann Arbor Crusaders Report A small directors note, but I screwed up the first week of the schedule (changed the start date by two days) so I ended up playing a double header...well actually two. Nothing overly bad happened though . We came out crushing the ball. Hayden Warden hit 5 HRs vs Albany in the opening series of the season. We ended up taking 5 out of the 6 vs them. Liu and Poovey picked up wins in double header starts, though neither pitched overly well. Gregory Johnson was the only pitcher to lose. Next up we played Athens in a less than dramatic series. After three less than thrilling victories, Bill Hollins hits a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 10th. After another convincing victory, Hollins hits a shot too tie it in the bottom of the 9th again vs Athens, Windle hit a single to win it in the 10th. Pilon picked up two wins during this series, striking out 12 and 13. We swept the entire 6 game series. Next stop was Madison, which actually put up a fight. After a thrilling 16 inning contest in which Rolden-Stjean-Liu and Frazen blank the Miracle, Windle comes through again, hitting a solo shot in the top of the 16th to win the game 1-0 in 16. The offence went into a funk for the next three games though, only managin 5 runs in the three loss's (but the pitching was good). We came back and won the final two games of the series to earn a split in the series. Daniel Jackson has been awesome, hitting .390 with 3HR with Virgil a ways back a .333. Warden has 9 bombs already while hitting .260 (.365 OBP) and 21 RBI, pacing the EL in HR and RBI. Hollins has struggled hitting singles, but has a nice OBP (.345) along with 3HR and 5doubles (vs only 5 singles). Frazen hasn't given up a run in 11 innings earning 6 saves. The staff has been so-so, they had some rough starts early (mainly Byrns and Johnson) but Pilon is 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA and Roldan is 3-0 with a 2.45. Pilon has given up 8HR in 34IP....I knew he was going to give up some HRs, but I thats ridiculous, I was thinking 5 tops at this piont. Down on the Farm... AAA...no specs AA: Justin Downing- 23 years old with a lot of potential. He gets ground balls and has a good fastball (93-96) and good stuff. He should be up in 2 or 3 years, if not earlier. Hes struggling in AA ball though, 1-2 wiht a 4.40 ERA with 10 walks in 30 innings. He does have 36Ks atleast. Alexander "The Thinker" Hardy- 22 year old with a world of potential. The first sacker has had a mixed start, 2 HRs and a .356 OBP, but only hitting in the .240s and is slugging just .364. Hes a big time prospect though. A: Bill Arden- A Catcher (and 1B), he's 20 years old so he has time to develop still. Like Hardy, having .364 OBP, but hitting below the Mendozza line. Has 2 HR and just 1 double... not big power yet. He s got a decent arm and can steal base's with the best of em. Robert Carpa- A pretty good pitching prospect, doesn't look like an ace when I drafted him, but has put up good #s so far. Hes 0-2 despite an amazing 2.10 ERA. In 34 innings hes walked way too many (15), but has struck out 34. Hes got a good fastball (91-94) gets a lot of ground balls and has great stamina. William Neuhaus- 19 year old, is 1-0 with a 2.02 ERA. Good control (9 walks in 34.1IP) but isn't a big K guy (only 23). Doesn't have the great fastball, but does get groundballs and has decent stamina. Not a ton of upside, but he could stick around. Jason Blakes- 18 years old, decent fastball. Average stamina and not really a ground ball pitcher. He hasn't pitched much this year (I had him as my 5th starter in a 4 man rotation...). He'll most likely come out of the pen if he ever makes it. Nobody else of note really.... Overall I have a decent farm, but its very thin. I have some good top tier talent, but not many average prospects that will just fill a roster spot for me. I dont expect too see anyone up all that soon either.