The IBL's Alaska Avalanche

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 18
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL: 78-31 +27
RUNS SCORED: 606 (58) t-5th
RUNS AGAINST: 399 (13) 1st (wow, +45 in 1 week)
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 78/100
SCHEDULE: 2 vs Arizona/3 @ Brooklyn/Off Day/1 vs New York

7/27
ALK 6 AZ 0
W-Solis (12-5) L-T.Robinson (6-6) S-Valdez (1)
HR ALK-Walton 2 (10)
Jesus Solis went 7.1-5-0-0-2-9 and Freddy Valdes worked out of an 8th inning jam in a 2-0 game before Mike Walton slammed his 2nd homer of the day, a grand slam, in the bottom half of the inning. Walton was 2-4 and drove in 5 (55) Christian Wilkins went 3-3 with a double (17) in the loss and Terence Robinson went 8-7-6-6-5-8 for the CG loss.

7/28
ALK 17 AZ 0
W-Hall (14-3) L-Watt (2-6)
HR ALK-Gomez (8) Adams (1)
Hall was again dominant, going 7-3-0-0-0-9 and getting 12 runs on 17 hits ad 7 walks. Carlos Gomez went 3-5 with a double (7) homer and 6 RBI's (26). Dave Adams went 1-4 with a homer and 3 RBI's (5) and Manuel Rodriguez and Enrique Garcia both scored 3 times, Garcia also stole his 32nd base.

NEWS-Devastating news out of West Michigan, 31 year old former Gold Glove winner Chris Scott has had his career cut short by a concussion. He was Fresno's 3rd round pick in 2016 out of Cal State-Fullerton (78th overall). He won 3 minor league gold gloves, made 2 all star teams and was their 2nd leading hitter this year (.304)



AMAZING YEAR-How do you drive in 200 runs in a 162 game season? This is certainly one way. He's already hit 26th on the all time single season list for RBI's. 10th place is 153, by Bill Hill of Dayton in 2013. Teammate Horst Grueter became just the 2nd player to ever drive in 175 or more runs last year when he broke Gerald Wrights 2015 record of 176. Castro needs just 35 over his last 57 games to tie the record.



7/29
ALK 7 BRO 5
W-Valdes (2-1) L-Gallagher (0-2) S-Casas (14)
HR BRO-Grant (23) Bowers (18)
John Durham relieved John Drake to start the 7th and with 2 outs Jerry Grant and Robert Bowers hit back to back homers to tie the game. Drake went 6-9-2-2-0-2. Manuel Rodriguez went 4-4 with 2 doubles (10) a triple (5) and 2 RBI's (32). Grant was 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI's (94). Enrique Garcia was 2-4 with 3 RBI's (40).

7/30
ALK 13 BROK 2
W-C.Durham (11-7) L-G.Espinoza (7-6)
HR ALK-Walton (11)
I've had them before, but never with a franchise in this league, in 15 years this is my first defensive triple play. Combined with 2 DP's and Colin got 7 outs on 3 pitches, and still had to throw 112 to finish. He had allowed 3 straight singles to load the bases that inning. He went 9-8-2-2-1-5. 1 hitter into the bottom of the 1st and we were up 8-0 and Maldonado was on 1st with a leadoff triple, I thought this was going to be a 2 touchdown game for both teams. Ibarbia went 3-4 driving in 3 (45) Mike Walton was 3-4 with his 1st inning 3 run homer, driving in 5 (60) on the day. Angel Vargas went 3-5 with a double (10).



7/31 Trade Deadline
ALK 14 BRO 2
W-Hernandez (8-0) L-Branch (3-3)
HR Ibarbia (13)
Carlos Hernandez is beginning to make some serious RotY waves. He went 7-6-2-2-2-5 to move to 8-0 3.14 on the year. The offense exploded for a 2nd straight day, pounding out 14 runs on 18 hits and 9 walks. Mauro Ibarbia went 5-5 with 4 singles and a homer, scoring 3 and driving in 4 (49). Manny Rodriguez drove in 3 (35) on a single and double (11) and Mike Walton had his 2nd 3 hit day in a row, going 3-6 with a double (28). Dave Adams went 3-5 with 3 doubles (4) and scored 3 times. Garcia (33) Merritt (9) and Adams (2) had a stolen base.

MINORS-Top P prospect Michael Bowman has been promoted to AAA. The 22 year old started the year at Class A Yakima, going 2-3 2.53 in 8 starts, at Kodiak (AA) he went 8-2 2.37 in 14 starts with 95 IP 84 H and 104 K's.

8/1
Off Day

8/2
NY 4 ALK 1
W-Romano (8-10) L-Solis (12-6) S-Bonnet (24)
HR NONE
Jesus Romano outduels Jesus Solis by going 8-5-1-1-3-9, taking a shutout into the 9th. Solis goes 7-6-2-2-0-5 in the loss.

WEEK 18 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Mike Walton (ALK) 13-27 3 HR's 13 RBI's (.296-11-62)
CL POTW-Felix Sanchez (DAL) 9-23 5 HR's 9 RBI's (.326-20-78)

WEEK 18 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) El Paso (4)
3) Chicago (2)
4) Dallas (3)
5) West Michigan (-)
OUT Pittsburgh (8)

NEWS/NOTES
Dallas has won (7-1 last 8), and San Antonio imploded (0-8) and the Texans have gone from 2.5 up to 9.5 up. But this injury is not good news. The Silver Stars were; 1-2 in every offensive category a month ago, and with Pujols, Edwards and Kang out (he's back) they are now 2nd in HR's 4th in Avg and 5th in Runs and OBP.

Green Bay is 24.5 back with 6 players now on the DL. Greene was having another great year.

Chris Wheeler was turning into one of my better OF prospects after getting moved around a bit the past 2 years. He was the #2 pick (60th) out of Cal State-Fullerton in 2024.

And Michigan again makes a move to bolster their staff. Their rotation is 15th in the league in ERA and Rea, whom I drafted while in Chicago (2017 3rd round out of U. of Minnesota) can start and relieve. The Wolverines will use him in a setup role for now. Sasaki is a big time CF prospect, gold glove defender right now, who can run. Likely a leadoff hitter if he stays on his current trajectory.

The price Columbus paid to get what many feel is a 4th outfielder was steep, too steep in my opinion. Lok is the best catcher, at any level of the IBL, today. Ayalya is a 3B who defends well, hits RH, runs well but hasn't been able to make the jump offensively.

West Michigan wastes no time inking Cody Miller to a huge 4-year extension. The 2025 Koufax winner is having a fantastic season following his 20-4 2.67 2025 campaign. He's a 5 time all star and 94-37 3.06 in 182 career starts, never starting fewer than 34 games since entering the rotation full time in 2022. He's also never won less than 14 games and lost 10 games or more just once. He was Boston's 1st pick (2nd overall) in 2019 out of Horizon HS in San Diego, California. He was the IBL's #1 prospect in 2020 and 2021.

And then they turn around and deal for Matt Lynch who's hit 80 homers and driven in 225 the past 2 years, and is having another big season. He signed a 1 year 5.5 million dollar extension May of this year. No one thinks Columbus got anywhere near enough in return for Lynch, Gutierrez being a big time glove with minimal offensive upside. Little has less than a year of service and is a decent 4th or 5th OF but more than likely a DH, and a switch hitter.

They're tied with New Hampshire, both 2.5 in back of Michigan, and New Hampshire made their own move, grabbing SP Kelly Noordervilet for top P prospect Jose Lugo. Lugo was the Fisher Cats 1st pick (8th overall) in 2024 out of Dubois Central Catholic HS in Dubois, PA. He's a week off the DL after rupturing a finger tendon in April.

Buffalo manages to sign former Avalanche top pick Fred Gill to a big 4 year extension. The 33 year old is having another very good season, actually scored his 1000th career run last month. (And check out the Bisons new uniforms)

Sacramento doles out HUGE money for 27 year old Javier Martinez. He broke in at age 19 and is almost at 9 years of service time already. The 6th year is a 19 million dollar player option, which will be his age 33 season.

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 19
RECORD: 2-4
OVERALL: 80-35 +27.5
RUNS SCORED: 618 (12) 7th
RUNS AGAINST: 423 (24) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 78/100
SCHEDULE: 2 @ New York/3 vs Green Bay/Off Day/1 vs Hawaii

STUFF-Check this out. He's 12th all time with 53 games to go, he needs just 27 RBI's.



INJURY NEWS-Freddy Valdes went down yesterday at the end of his appearance, no word yet. Going to DL him and recall LHP Bill Caldwell

8/3
NY 9 ALK 4
W-J.Rodriguez (2-3) L-Hall (14-4)
HR ALK-Edwards (13) Harrell (23) NY-Montaury (11)
New York jumped on Hall for a season worst 4 run 1st, and back to back Ibarbia errors in the 6th led to 5 unearned runs. Hall went 5.2-8-9-4-1-8 in the loss and Rodriguez went 7.1-5-3-3-3-5 for the win. Harrell drove in 3 (65) with his 23rd, Je-Ju Sim was 2-4 with a double (11) and 3 RBI's (23).

NEWS-Tragic news out of Edmonton. Brooks has gone on the bereavement list.



8/4
ALK 2 NY 1
W-Drake (9-5) L-Toner (7-11) S-Casas (15)
HR ALK-Rodriguez (6) Ibarbia (14)
John Drake was outstanding over 7, giving up a run on 7 punch outs with no walks. Josh Toner almost matched him, but solo homers in the top of the 8th by Rodriguez and Ibarbia cost him the game (7.1-7-2-2-2-5).

INJURY NEWS-Freddy Valdes has a serious shoulder issue and will miss 3-4 months, he's been transferred to the 60 day.

8/5
GB 5 ALK 0
W-Althusser (7-10) L-C.Durham (11-8)
HR GB-Walker (20) Corfield (13) Darcch (4) York (11)
Lutz Althusser tosses 6.2 scoreless innings and 4 Blizzard homers are the difference. Colin Durham surrendered 3 in his 5.1 innings. Isaac Darch was 2-4 with a homer and his league leading 57th stolen base.

8/6
ALK 6 GB 1
W-Hernandez (9-0) L-J.Martinez (5-3)
HR GB-Verberne (6) ALK-Kelley (4) Merritt (10)
Carlos Hernandez twirls a gem, a 3-hit 12 K masterpiece on 121 pitches. Pete Merritt goes 2-3 with a double (19) homer and 2 RBI's (45) and Angel Vargas goes 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's (27) while Jason Kelley goes 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's (14) and scores 2 times. Hernandez is now 9-0 2.88.

8/7
GB 6 ALK 0
W-Wells (7-11) L-Solis (12-7)
HR GB-Walker (21) Darch (5)
Pat Wells carried a no-hitter into the 8th before Kevin Olson's 2 out 2B broke it up. Ibarbia doubled in the 9th, but that was it as Wells finished with a 9-2-0-0-2-3 on 108 pitches. 2B Clint Levin was 4-4 with a double , scored twice and drove in 2 (22). Jesus Solis came out in the 3rd after an apparent arm injury, no word yet.



HITTING STREAKS-
Here are the longest IBL hitting streaks, by level:
ROOKIE-26 games Pedro Lopez (MICH) 2017
SHORT SEASON-25 games Bernardo Hernandez (PHI) 2021
A(S)-31 games Bailey Hopkins (PHI) 2013
A(N)-25 Neil Joyce (NH) (2023)
AA-38 games David Brooks (GB) 2021 (Louie Ginger 33 in 2023)
AAA-30 Howard Mathis (SAC) 2014 Roberto Sanchez (FRE) 2022 Asiman Swagat (CHI) 2024

All that to say 30+ games is rare, very rare, and Luis Rodriguez of Brooklyn's AA Honolulu affiliate has joined the club.



8/8
Off Day and Jesus Solis news is back. He's DtD for the next 5-6 with a sore back.

8/9
HAW 2 ALK 0
W-Butler (7-7) L-Hall (14-5) S-T.Gonzalez (22)
HR HAW-Riario (15)
Galimberto Riario's 8th inning 2 run blast was a game winner in a great pitchers duel that saw Stan Hall lose consecutive starts for the 1st time this year. Pete Butler went 8-4-0-0-1-7 to shut us out for the 2nd consecutive game. Hall went 8-7-2-2-3-9 on 121 pitches.

STREAKS-Luis Rodriguez had his streaked halted at 32 games today.

WEEK 19 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Alfonso Soriano (HAW) 13-27 3 HR's 15 RBI's (.241-17-63)
CL POTW-Pedro Hernandez (TUL) 17-30 4 RBI's (.308-1-37)

WEEK 19 POWER RANKINGS
1) West Michigan (5)
2) Alaska (1)
3) Chicago (3)
4) Corpus Christi (-)
5) Dallas (4)
El Paso (8)

NEWS/NOTES
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are tied as of the 4th, Morin going down is a bad one for the Bulldogs. They recalled 31 year old Darrell Baxter whom the Bulldogs signed as a free agent on opening day this year. He hit .216/.329/.306 in 72 games before being optioned and was struggling in AAA hitting just .179 in 11 games. He can defend, well, on the left side of the infield.

Flores hitting streak coincides with West Michigan overtaking the Wolverines for the 1st time this year.

San Antonio's been crushed by injuries this year, they dealt some talent 3 weeks ago to get Ruben Lopez to shore their offense up, and he's now gone for the year.

Huge injury news out of Corpus Christi, with them just 1.5 up slugger John Naylor sprained an ankle and will miss the next 5-6 weeks.

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 20
RECORD: 4-2
OVERALL: 84-37 +28.5
RUNS SCORED: 663 (45) 7th
RUNS AGAINST: 445 (22) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 vs Hawaii/3 @ Arizona/Off Day/1 @ Los Angeles

8/10
ALK 12 HAW 3
W-Drake (10-5) L-Tucker (9-9)
HR ALK-Harrell (24)
Drake goes 7-6-2-2-0-5 and the offense wakes up on 12 runs on 15 hits. Enrique Garcia went 4-4 with a double 2 runs and 3 RBI's (45) and stole 2 (35).

DUELING DL'S-Pittsburgh and Philly are tied at 69-48, and the Bulldogs had another significant injury today.



STREAKS-Flores is now 1 game off the IBL record of 31, set by Luis Chavez ('22) and Mario Gomez (26).



8/11
ALK 12 HAW 3
W-C.Durham (12-8) L-Castillo (4-10)
HR ALK-Harrell (25)
Durham gets around an Ibarbia error to go 5.2-8-3-1-1-3 and the pen closes out while the offense has another big day led by Bob Harrell's 3-5 4 RBI's (72). Matt Edwards went 3-4 with a double (7) and scored 4 times while Mike Walton went 3-5 with an RBI (64).

STREAKS-He's now tied.....



8/12
ALK 10 AZ 3
W-Hernandez (10-0) L-Robinson (6-7) S-J.Durham (3)
HR ALK-Olson (12) Ibarbia (15) AZ-Reeves (25)
Carlos Hernandez remains perfect, working around some early command issues and getting 4 double plays over a 6.2-9-3-3-3-8 outing. He's 10-0 2.97 now. It was the 3rd consecutive game of 10+ runs and Bob Harrell once again led the offense as he went 5-5 with a double (19) triple (2) scoring 3 times and driving in a run (73). Kevin Olson went 4-5 with a double (20) homer and 3 RBI's (50) while stealing his 16th base.

STREAKS-And we have a new IBL record....

[gehrig38]

8/13
ALK 7 AZ 4
W-Hall (8-10) L-Caldwell (0-1)
HR ALK-Walton (12) Merritt (11) AZ-Wood (8)
Bill Caldwell struggled in a spot start going 3.1-8-6-5-1-3 and Ben Hall went 8-8-3-2-1-2 for the win. Pete Merritt was 3-4 with 2 doubles (21) a homer and 2 RBI's (48). Christian Schall was 3-4 with 2 RBI's (48).

STREAKS-And it continues...



RECORDS-Castro is staying on pace, and could actually drive in 200 in a season. In other Iron Pig news Andy Morgan has returned from the DL and will make his 2nd start of the year today.

8/14
AZ 4 ALK 3
W-Crane (2-1) L-Hall (14-6) S-Castle (20)
HR NONE
Stan Hall (8-6-4-4-2-4) tossed a CG but gave up 2 doubles and a triple in the 7th inning to cost him his third straight loss. Andrew Davis went 6.2-3-2-2-4-9 in a 119 pitch ND.

ANOTHER DAY.....Another hit...



8/15
Off Day
West Michigan is 19-2 in their last 21, to go from 2nd place to 3.5 up on the Wolverines, who've gone 10-11 over that same span, and lost 9 games in the race. I mention it because the news below on Louie Ginger could be a huge blow to the White Caps.

8/16
ALK 4 LA 2
W-Drake (11-5) L-Romo (4-5) S-Casas (16)
HR ALK-Merritt (12) LA-Ayala (2)
Drake goes 8-5-2-2-1-5, with Clovis Wooge pitching him to a standstill in a 8-6-2-2-1-4. Bob Harrells double with one out setup back to back 2 out RBI singles by Kevin Vaughn and Enrique Garcia in the top of the 9th, making Drake the winner. Cisco Casas got the final 3 outs.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END-

WEEK 20 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Paul Reeves (AZ) 13-24 3 HR's 10 RBI's (.280-26-62)
CL POTW-Daniel Rodriguez (DAL) 11-21 4 HR's 8 RBI's (.303-32-101)

IBL SINGLE SEASON RECORD: OPS
1.1394 Jeff Hudson (CHI) 2024
1.1235 Ricardo Lozano (SJ) 2023
1.1174 Curt Whimster (PIT) 2014
1.1110 Angelo Gomez RET 2016
1.1041 Alex Rodriguez RET 2015

WEEK 20 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (2)
2) Pittsburgh (-)
3) Dallas (5)
4) Chicago (3)
5) Corpus Christi (4)
OUT West Michigan (1)

NEWS/NOTES
That's not good news on Buckley.

Rob Brights 3rd shutout of the season and 3rd game of 14+ strikeouts this year.

That's Figueroa's 3rd career 15+ strikeout game. He has the IBL record of 18 set in 2022 in a 1-hitter vs Pittsburgh (the same team he no-hit in 2020)

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 21
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL: 89-38 +29.5
RUNS SCORED: 719 (56) 4th Huge week
RUNS AGAINST: 467 (22) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 @ Los Angeles/3 vs Sacramento/Off Day/1 @ Chicago

8/17
ALK 6 LA 2
W-C.Durham (13-8) L-Hunter (2-2)
HR LA-Rollins (20)
Colin Durham went the distance on a 2-hitter, going 9-2-2-2-2-6 on 101 pitches. Pete Merritt was 3-5 with 2 doubles (23) and 2 RBI's (52).

NEWS-Chicago won 14-5 today, and Ramon Castro was 3-4 with 2 doubles (24) a homer (38) scored 3 times and drove in 5 (168), and now sits just 9 shy of tying the single season record, with 38 games to play. Juan Barrios scored 2 times, and has scored 119 runs, and is on pace for 155, which would shatter the single season mark of 145 held by Bill Hill, Luis Chavez and Dave Palmer.

8/18
LA 4 ALK 3
W-Butler (12-8) L-Hernandez (10-1) S-Romo (27)
HR LA-Dejesus (36)
Carlos Hernandez gets outpitched, as he struggles all day with his command, giving up 4 earned on 4 walks and 6 hits in 5.2 IP, to drop to 10-1 3.20. Ryan “Octopus” Butler goes 7-7-3-3-2-5 to move to 12-8 3.54 on the year. Enrique Garcia goes 2-4 stealing his 37th.

8/19
ALK 20 SAC 6
W-Solis (13-7) L-Bernal (4-3)
HR- SAC-Prieto (7) ALK-Olson (13) Harrell (26) Vaughn (7)
An 8 run second begins a 20 run 24 hit day. Mauro Ibarbia goes 4-6 and scores 3 times, Angel Vargas goes 4-6 with 2 doubles (13) and drives in 3 (30). Bob Harrell goes 2-5 with a double (24) homer and 3 RBI's (79) and Matt Walton went 2-4 scoring 3 and driving in 2 (69). Kevin Olson was 3-3 with a home run and scored 3 times. Kevin Vaughn went 2-4 with a homer and 5 RBI's (54). Javier Martinez went 4-4 with 3 RBI's (75) in the loss.

GREAT GAMES-Robert Simpson does it for the 20th time in IBL history, and the 1st time ever for a San Jose player.



8/20
ALK 5 SAC 3
W-Hall (15-6) L-Cook (10-4) S-Casas (17)
HR ALK-Harrell (27) Merritt (13)
Stan Hall breaks his mini slump, winning for the 1st time in 4 starts by going 6-8-3-3-1-7 and getting help from John Durham (17) and Cisco Casas. Pete Merritt went 3-5 with a double (25) 2 runs and 2 RBI's (54). Andrew Morris went 3-4 in the loss.

8/21
ALK 4 SAC 3
W-Drake (12-5) L-King (9-12) S-Casas (18)
HR ALK-Harrell (28)
John Drake went 7-5-3-3-2-5 to move to 12-5 3.05 on the year. Lester King went 7.2-4-4-4-3-6 in the loss. Bob Harrell went 1-4 driving in 3 of the 4 Avalanche runs.

INJURY NEWS-David Ledezma suffered a setback, instead of being within 2 weeks, he's going to be out at least another 4.

8/22
Off Day

8/23
ALK 18 CHI 4
W-C.Durham (14-8) L-Bright (15-6) S-Sheppard (1)
HR ALK-Gomez (9) CHI-Villareal (15)
A 5 run 1st and an 8 run 2nd ended this one before it started. Strikeout leader Rob Bright was hammered for 5 earned on 6 hits in 2/3rds of an inning. Colin Durham went 6-6-4-4-2-2 for his 14th win. Manuel Rodriguez went 5-6 with 2 singles, 2 doubles (16) a triple (6) and scored 3 times, driving in 4 (49). Carlos Gomez was 4-6 with a double (8) homer and 5 RBI's (31). Tim Harvey 2 doubles (15) Kevin Vaughn 2 RBI's (56) and Mike Walton 2 doubles 3 RBI's (72) all had 3 hit days.

RBI RECORD-Since his 5 RBI game on Monday I hadn't looked in on Ramon Castro. However, following that day he hit 3 home runs and drove in 8 over the next 4 days and is now sitting on 176 RBI's, just 1 short of the single season record.

WEEK 21 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Ramon Castro (CHI) 12-26 5 HR's 14 RBI's (.385-41-176) this is a season beyond words really. Still 5 weeks to go for these numbers. .390-50-200 isn't out of the realm......
CL POTW-Robert Simpson (SJ) 17-29 HR 7 RBI's (.273-12-55)

WEEK 21 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Michigan (-)
3) Chicago (4)
4) Pittsburgh (2)
5) Fresno (-)
OUT Dallas (9) Corpus Christi (8)

NEWS/NOTES
Morimoto is the Japanese FA I signed this past winter. He's hitting far better than expected, and his power is coming on nicely. He plays all 4 IF positions a tick above, to outstanding (3B) as well as RF. If he can get just a tad better on the contact side he could be a very versatile asset as a RHH.



MINOR LEAGUES
AAA Eagan (1) 84-48 +3 1st AVG/SB/BP ERA 2nd Runs against/SP ERA/Def 4th Runs/OBP
AA Kodiak (10) 74-58 3 GB 1st Runs against/SP ERA 3rd Def
A(S) Spokane (15) 64-68 2 GB 2nd Def 3rd SB
A(N) Yakima (24) 57-75 ELIM t-4th SB
SS Juneau (10) 30-26 2 GB 1st SB 2nd AVG 3rd SP ERA 4th Runs
R Fairbanks (26) 23-33 7 GB 1st SB

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 22
RECORD: 4-2
OVERALL: 93-40 +33.5
RUNS SCORED: 760 (41) 4th
RUNS AGAINST: 496 (29) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 @ Chicago/Off Day/3 vs Michigan/1 vs Providence

8/24
CHI 9 ALK 3
W-Davenport (13-6) L-Hernandez (10-2)
HR ALK-Harrell (29) CHI-Villareal (16)
This one was over before it started, 2 in the 1st, 3 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd as Hernandez got pounded by his former club for 7 earned on 9 hits in 2.1 IP. Gerald Davenport went 7-6-0-0-1-7 for the win. Pedro Villareal went 2-5 with 4 RBI's (101) and Bob Harrell was 2-3 with 3 RBI's (87).
With his 2nd inning RBI double Ruben Castro has tied the single season RBI mark set by former teammate Horst Grueter, with 177.

INJURY NEWS-Kevin Vaughn strained an oblique, and is out a week. With 6 days to go before rosters expand I may call someone up to make them post season eligible. After some thought, Kojuro Morimoto is recalled.

8/25
ALK 11 CHI 5
W-Solis (14-7) L-Morgan (3-1)
HR ALK-Harrell (30) Walton (13) Ibarbia (16)
Solis was just good enough (5-7-5-5-5-1) in a horrid outing and the offense jumped all over Andy Morgan for 7 runs in 1.1 IP. Pete Merritt led of going 1-3 with a double and scored 3 times, Mauro Ibarbia went 3-6 with a double (17) homer and 3 RBI's (56) and Matt Walton hit a 1st inning 3 run shot (75).

RECORD-With his 3rd inning Sac Fly Ramon Castro broke the all time single season RBI record of 177. In his next at bat he doubled, driving in 1, and establishing the new record at 179.



8/26
Off Day

8/27
ALK 5 MICH 2
W-Hall (16-6) L-McGowan (12-10) S-Casas (19)
HR MICH-Reyes (30) ALK-Kelley (5)
Stan Hall goes 7-6-2-1-3-10 on 116 pitches and Jason Kelley's 6th inning solo HR broke a 2-2 tie. Kelley went 2-3 with 2 RBI's (18).

PLAYOFF NEWS-We became the 1st team to clinch today.

8/28
MICH 5 ALK 3
W-Drake (12-6) L-Sanders (11-3) S-Ivey (34)
HR NONE
Jesse Sanders went 8-6-3-3-0-8 to move to 11-3 4.92 as John Drake was tagged for 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. Ernesto Tobias went 3-4 with 2 doubles (28) scoring twice and driving in a run (60).

8/29
ALK 9 MICH 5
W-Durham (15-8) L-Raines (16-6)
HR MICH-Utley (14) ALK-Harrell (31) Rodriguez 2 (8)
The offense was paced by Bob Harrell's 4-5 day, and Manuel Rodriguez went 3-4 with 2 homers and drove in 2 (55) while Enrique Garcia went 3-5 and stole 2 bases (40). Matt Walton was 3-4.

AMAZING YEAR-Ramon Castro went 4-5 with a solo homer (42) and drove in a run (180) and is now hitting .393-42-180 on the year. Luis Chavez was 4-5 as well, hitting 3 singles and a double and is hitting .326-36-134. Jeffrey Hudson is hitting behind those two and is now hitting .348-34-108.


8/30
ALK 10 PROV 3
W-J.Durham (3-0) L-J.Perez (3-4)
HR PROV-Proctor (18)
The pen tossed 3 hitless innings with 6 k's following Carlos Hernandez's 6-6-3-3-5-6 battle over 111 pitches. The offense pounded out 19 hits with Ibarbia (3-5) Edwards (3-4) and Adams (3-4) having 3 hit days. Edwards doubled twice (12) and Bob Harrell was 2-5 driving in 3 (93).

WEEK 22 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Manuel Rodriguez (ALK) 14-26 2 HR's 10 RBI's (.345-8-55)
CL POTW-Bill Miles (CC) 10-23 4 HR's 14 RBI's (.291-18-69)

WEEK 22 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) West Michigan (-)
3) Chicago (3)
4) Dallas (9)
5) Fresno (5)
OUT Michigan (6) Pittsburgh (10)

NEWS/NOTES

[gehrig38]

No real surprise in the FL, what a year for Castro.




We might actually get some pennant races this year. Buffalo, Brooklyn, West Michigan, Michigan (New Hampshire has fallen hard), Pittsburgh and Philly, Corpus Christi and El Paso.

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 23
RECORD: 6-1
OVERALL: 99-41 +36.5
RUNS SCORED: 815 (55) 4th
RUNS AGAINST: 525 (29) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 vs Providence/3 vs Buffalo/2 vs Edmonton

8/31
ALK 13 PROV 7
W-Solis (15-7) Meeker (4-8)
HR PROV-Pak (15) ALK-Walton (14) Kelley (6)
A big 6 run 3rd put the game away as Walton and Kelley homered. Dave Adams went 3-5, Walton went 3-5 with a double (33) homer and 3 RBI's (79) and scored 3 times. 2024 Rookie of the year Jung-Jun Pak went 2-5 with a double (19) homer and 3 RBI's (47)

ROSTER EXPANSION: MR Gary Turner and Chris Jones the only ones recalled. Eagan is in the post season and I also am not high on recalling just to recall. Stover has had a really bad year at the plate and honestly should have gone back to AA earlier. I may being up an IF and OF and a couple pitchers when they are done.

9/1
ALK 4 PROV 2
W-Hall (17-6) L-Dansen (7-16) S-Casas (20)
HR PROV-Panigua (9)
Stan Hall goes 8-5-2-2-0-8 and Casas gets the final 3 in order as the offense manages 4 runs on just 9 singles with 10 LOB. David Adams goes 3-5, Vargas drives in 2 (35)

9/2
ALK 7 BUF 1
W-Drake (13-6) L-Steward (2-6)
HR NONE
John Drake tosses 7 scoreless, striking out 8 and lowering his ERA to 3.03 (2nd behind teammate Stan Hall). Enrique Garcia goes 3-4 with a stolen base (41) and 2 RBI's (54). Matt Edwards is 0-2 with 3 walks and Mike Walton drives in 3 (82) with a single and a double (34) Fred Gill is 3-4 with a double (25) in the loss.

9/3
BUF 7 ALK 4
W-Romero (11-8) L-C.Durham (15-9) S-Melendrez (25)
HR BUF-Tester (9) Blue (4) Segura (22) Ba (1) ALK-Ibarbia (17)
Vincente Romero went 7.1-8-4-4-2-4 to outpitch Colin Durham who was pounded for 7 earned runs in 3.1 IP, giving up 4 home runs. Rookie Alistair Tester went 4-5 with a double (9) homer and 3 RBI's (28) and Catcher Haywood Blue was 3-3 with a double, homer and 2 runs. Pete Merritt went 3-4 with a double (29) in the loss. Enrique Garcia stole 2 more bases (43).

RECORD-Ramon Castro went 2-5 with 2 runs on 2 singles to tie Jesus Andrales for the IBL record of hits in a season at 237. (there's clearly a bug in the game as the game was reporting this, below, a game in which he had 0 hits, he broke the record yesterday actually. Castro is clearly on target to break, set or tie many offensive records, in addition he is gunning for the leagues 2nd triple crown. He is trailing teammate Asiman Swagat .396-.392 in the batting race, leading Michigan's Harry Stuart 43-38 in the HR race and is the runaway RBI leader at 184-135 to teammate Luis Chavez (who's having a career year completely in the dark himself).



9/4
ALK 10 BUF 7
W-Hernandez (11-2) L-James (0-1) S-Casas (21)
HR BUF-Gonzalez (1)
Carlos Hernandez went 6-7-5-5-3-10, struggling in the 5th but the offense banged out 14 hits. Manuel Rodriguez was 3-5 Matt Edwards walked 3 times and scored 2, Mauro Ibarbia went 2-4 with a double (19) 2 runs and 2 RBI's (60). Bob Harrell went 3-4 with a double (27) and Enrique Garcia was 3-4 with 2 runs 2 RBI's (56) and 2 stolen bases (45). Antonio Gonzalez went 3-4 with a double (2) homer and 3 RBI's (11)

RECORDS-Garcia's 45 stolen bases is a new Alaska record, breaking his record of 42 set last year.

And Ramon Castro continues to rewrite the record book.



PENNANT RACE-Michigan and West Michigan begin a 4 game series today. West Michigan is .5 game up at 82-57, Michigan is 81-57.

9/5
ALK 12 EDM 5
W-Solis (16-7) L-Silver (1-3)
HR EDM-Miranda (17) Jordan (4) ALK-Edwards (14) Rodriguez (9) Merritt (14)
Jesus Solis gives up 4 in 6 innings and the offense drops a 7 run 2nd on the Trappers. Pete Merritt led the way with a double (31) homer and 5 RBI's (65) and Manuel Rodriguez was 2-4 with a double and homer also, driving in 4 (62). Dave Adams went 3-4.

FIRINGS-Arizona fired manager Dan Meredith after 213 games at the helm. He took over last year and went 31-43 and the Rattlers, with an owner expecting a .500 season this year, are 56-83 (.403).

9/6
ALK 5 EDM 0
W-Hall (18-6) L-Martinez (10-12)
HR NONE
Stan Hall tossed his 11th career shutout and 4th this year, as well as his 3rd 4-hitter and second in a row against Edmonton to move to 18-6 2.40 ERA. Mike Walton went 3-4 with a double (35) and Bob Harrell drove in 2 (97).

PENNANT RACE-West Michigan beat Michigan 7-4 as Chester Walter hit 2 solo homers and Dave Vogel (3-6 4.28) went 8-6-4-4-2-2 to beat Dan McGowen (12-11 5.20) who went 5.2-6-5-5-2-0.

WEEK 23 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Jesus Reyes (MICH) 11-27 4 HR's 13 RBI's (.315-35-100)
CL POTW-Frank Morgan (FRE) 14-27 3 HR's 10 RBI's (.285-23-81)

WEEK 23 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Chicago (3)
3) Fresno (5)
4) West Michigan (2)
5) Michigan (6)
OUT Dallas (8)

MINORS
AAA Eagan begins their 1st round series vs the Alexandria Voodoo (NO)
AA Kodiak 77-63 5 GB OVER
A Spokane 66-74 4 GB OVER
A Yakima 61-79 24 GB OVER
SS Juneau 35-34 7 GB
R Fairbanks 28-40 10 GB OVER

NEWS/NOTES
Ginger's injury is an issue as West Michigan and Michigan seem to be trading off 1st place on a daily basis. The White Caps lead by just .5 game.

[ashantewarrier]

Here you are! I was wondering what happened to the Iron Pigs. You took the Avalanche GM position. Cool!

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 24
RECORD: 5-2
OVERALL: 104-43 +39.5
RUNS SCORED: 870 (55) 3rd
RUNS AGAINST: 550 (25) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 vs Edmonton/4 @ Hawaii/1 @ Staten Island

9/7
ALK 8 EDM 1
W-Drake (14-6) L-Ray (9-11)
HR ALK-Merritt (15)
Drake loses a 5-hit shutout on a 9th inning error but manages 8.1-5-1-1-2-4 for his 14th win, lowering his ERA to a league 2nd best 2.95. Pete Merritt goes 4-5 with a double (33) homer and 4 RBI's (69) and Enrique Garcis scores 3 times on 2 hits and his club record 46th stolen base.

INJURY NEWS-Could be the years biggest injury. MVP candidate George Quinn down for the remainder of the regular season. Hit on the hand in game 1 of the Pittsburgh series, which they won 11-1. They were pummeled 10-5 without him yesterday and now trail the Bulldogs by 1 game. There is 1 game remaining in the series, and the two teams will meet again in the seasons final 3 games, in Philly, the 27th to the 29th.



In other playoff news, West Michigan beat Michigan 6-3 behind Ricardo Flores 34th and 35th home runs, as he drove in 4.

El Paso trails Corpus Christi by 1.5, and they begin a 4 game set tomorrow in El Paso. Tulsa is 2.5 back, they have split with the Hooks with 1 game left, and then go to Houston for 4. They will finish the season hosting El Paso for 4, and going to Corpus Christi for 3.

Finally, Gerald Buckley returns to the rotation today, hopefully in time to get his legs under him and be the 4th man in my playoff rotation.

9/8
EDM 7 ALK 6
W-Dicken (9-13) L-Buckley (8-5) S-Kelly (25)
HR EDM-White (14) Cruz (14) ALK-Vargas GS (8)
Down 7-0 Angel Vargas' 8th inning Grand Slam made it a ballgame, but the offense couldn't make it happen in the 9th. Buckley went 6-5-4-3-3-1 on 118 pitches. Patrick White went 2-5 with a double (22) homer and 3 RBI's (40) and Jesus Cruz was 2-5 with a double (25) and homer as well, driving in 2. Vargas went 2-2 with his grand slam and 4 RBI's (39).

BIG PERFORMANCES IN PENNANT RACES SEPTEMBER 8th-Darren Gamble (BUF) and Jim Morris (EP) came up huge.



9/9
ALK 14 HAW 0
W-Hernandez (12-2) L-Harvey (10-10)
HR ALK-Vargas (9)
Carlos Hernandez worked through an easy 6-4-0-0-1-7 outing as the offense pounded out 14 runs on 17 hits led by Angel Vargas' 4-6 day with a homer and 3 RBI's (42). Mauro Ibarbia was 2-5 with 2 doubles (22) and 3 RBI's (63) and Tim Harvey was 3-4 with a double (18) triple (5) while stealing his 27th base and scoring 4 times. Kevin Vaughn had 3 RBI's (59).

PENNANT NEWS-Iron Pigs clinch their 6th straight division pennant and Bright has another monster strikeout game. Michigan gets demolished 15-1 while West Michigan had a day off, to put the Wolverines 3 back. Staten Island pummels Buffalo 11-1 while Brooklyn beats New York 4-3, to move the Cyclones 3 up as well. Philadelphia beat Baltimore 8-2 and Boston downed Pittsburgh 6-3 to give the Patriots a 1 game lead in the Keystone, Boston is creeping in, 7 out now. Corpus Christi beat El Paso 7-6 as PH Ron Miller (former Iron Pig) hit a 9th inning RBI double, the Hooks now lead the Diablos by a half game with 3 games remaining in this series.



9/10
ALK 6 HAW 3
W-C.Durham (16-9) L-Butler (8-11) S-Casas (22)
ALK-Adams (2)
Colin Durham gave up 3 earned in 7 to win his 16th. David Adams hit a 3 run homer in the 2nd (17). Tim Harvey was 2-4 with a double (19) stolen base (28) and 2 RBI's (27)

PENNANT RACES-Brooklyn pounds New York 14-5, Buffalo beats Staten Island 5-4, so the lead is still 3. West Michigan beats Providence 6-1 and Michigan beats New Hampshire 8-4 so the lead remains at 3 as well. Boston beats Pittsburgh 3-2 while Baltimore shuts out Philly 9-0, keeping Philadelphia in front by 1, but Boston closes to within 6. Corpus Christi beats El Paso 5-3 as Bill Miles hits an 8th inning tie breaking homer (19). The win gives the Hooks a 1.5 game lead.

9/11
ALK 14 HAW 3
W-Hall (19-6) L-Hart (0-4)
HR ALK-Olson (14) Walton (15)
A 7 run 2nd was more than enough as Stan Hall cruised through a 6-2-2-1-1-8 outing for his 19th win as he seeks his 1st Koufax award. Mike Walton was 4-5 with a double (38) homer and 3 RBI's (91) while scoring 3. Kevin Olson hit a 3 run homer (59). Matt Edwards was 1-1 with 3 walks.

PENNANT RACES SEPTEMBER 12th



9/12
ALK 4 HAW 1
W-Drake (15-6) L-Tucker (12-11) S-Casas (23)
HR ALK-Harrell (32) HAW-Sanchez (13)
Drake worked 8 great innings but left after tiring (8-2-0-0-2-8) and John Durham surrendered a leadoff home run, bringing Casas in to get the final 3 outs. Bob Harrell's 3 run home run in the 4th was the game, giving him 106 RBI's. Matt Tucker wen t 7-7-3-3-2-6 in the loss.


9/13
SI 10 ALK 3
W-Poe (11-7) L-Buckley (8-6)
HR ALK-Edwards (15) SI-Montoya (30)
Buckley gets crushed, giving up 7 runs on 6 hits, walking 2 in 1.2 IP. Chris Poe goes 7.2-7-3-3-2-4 for the win. Bernardo Montoya was 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI's (119).

NEWS-Good news, and some bad to go with it. He went down making a catch today and is hurt, and out, for a period of time we aren't sure of yet. This would be a huge blow to our post season hopes if he's out for any length of time. (ED: I've decided to turn off injury ratings, I buy what Orcin did and think the fog of war will add realism)

IBL ACTIVE LEADERS: STOLEN BASES
527 Jimmy Rollins (LA)
461 Felix Torres (-)
381 Jorge Garcia (HOU)
362 Jesus Andrales (-)
337 Fernando Barrera (NH)

WEEK 24 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Benton Crowder 14-29 HR 10 RBI's (.329-24-79)
CL POTW-Manuel Samudid 14-27 4 HR's 6 RBI's (.326-14-69)

WEEK 24 POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Chicago (2)
3) Fresno (3)
4) West Michigan (4)
5) Corpus Christi (-)
OUT Michigan (12)

[gehrig38]

PENNANT RACES-Brooklyn has picked up a game, now 3 up on Buffalo. The big shocker has come in the Lone Star where the Hooks have won 4 straight, and El Paso lost 4 in a row (and is 1-6 in their last 7) to put Corpus Christi in a commanding position with just 12-13 games to go.

Castro and Swagat appear to be headed to the wire in the batting race, with a triple crown on the line for Castro. He's 7 RBI's away from an unprecedented 200 in a single year. Stan Hall needs a break or two but a pitching triple crown is within reach.

Ameixieira looks to have the CL batting title sewn up, with Quinn hurt. Fresno features the Coastal Leagues top 2 winners in Cordell Bond (20) and Travis Wright (19). Wright is shooting for his first 20 win season, at age 26. His last 4 full years have gone 16-7 3.09, 19-8 3.68, 17-7 3.80 and this years 19-3 2.72. He's a career 80-31 3.45 in 152 starts.

[gehrig38]

..

[gehrig38]

.

[Orcin]

Stan Hall... wow!!

That Castro guy ain't so bad, either.

[gehrig38]

Castro inches closer, and takes over the batting lead as well.

Stan Hall is now in control of whether or not he wins the pitching triple crown.

[gehrig38]

Chicago won 16-5, Castro was 2-6 with 3 RBI's, Bright punched out 7 in 8 innings.

[gehrig38]

2026 WEEK 25
RECORD: 2-4
OVERALL: 106-47 +37.5
RUNS SCORED: 891 (21) 4th
RUNS AGAINST: 575 (25) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 79/100
SCHEDULE: 2 @ Staten Island/Off Day/3 vs Columbus/1 vs Dayton

9/14
ALK 9 SI 2
W-Hernandez (13-2) L-Naif (6-11)
HR ALK-Vaughn 2 (9) SI-Crowder (25)
Hernandez goes 6-4-1-1-3-7 on 101 pitches and Kevin Vaughn hits a double (17) 2 home runs, scores 3 and drives in 3 (64). Ibarbia leads off and goes 3-5 stealing his 26th and scoring twice.

9/15
SI 5 ALK 4
W-Quinones (1-5) L-Wheeler (6-3) S-Vazquez (30)
HR SI-Tamura (24) Montoya (31)
Durham (7-7-4-4-1-4) and Price (7-8-4-4-2-5) dueled to a standstill, before Juan Molina's 8th inning RBI single broke a 4 all tie.

GREAT GAMES-Roman Bernal tosses the first no-hitter of the year. It was the leagues 29th no-hitter, Sacramento's league leading 5th, and the 3rd time Baltimore has been no-hit. Bernal was the 25th and final pick of the Corpus Christi Hooks in the 2018 amateur draft out of Westborough HS, MA.



9/16
Off Day Manuel Rodriguez will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a strained oblique. That could present a problem for the 1st round of the playoffs if he doesn't heal on the quick end of that timeline. Eagan has advanced to the AAA World Series vs the Farmington Texans (DAL), but I've had to add Erik Gore to the 40 man roster and call him up.


9/17
ALK 3 COL 0
W-Hall (20-6) L-Barnes (6-6)
HR NONE
Stan Hall throws the 1st 1-hitter of his career, needing just 103 pitches to strike out 8 and walk 1, and win his 20th game. He lowered his ERA to a league best 2.28 and set a new IBL single season record for shutouts with 6. Erik Gore had an RBI single and Matt Walton a 2 run single in a 3 run 1st inning. Dayton Barnes went 7-8-3-3-2-0 in the loss.

9/18
COL 3 ALK 2
W-Miller (16-10) L-Caldwell (0-2) S-Colon (3)
HR COL-Salazar (19) ALK-Walton (16)
Drake held the Clippers hitless into the 5th and scoreless until Salazar's 2 out 2 run homer in the 7th. Walton tied it with his own in the bottom half before Columbus got 1 of Caldwell. Drake was dominating, going 8-4-2-2-1-11 and lowering his ERA to 2.81.

ROSTER NEWS-David Ledezma comes off the DL, hopefully in time to be ready for the post season. Eagan is 1-1 in their best of 5 AAA World Series.

9/19
COL 9 ALK 1
W-Green (8-11) L-Buckley (8-7) S-Rowan (2)
HR COL-Salazar (20)
3 Clipper pitchers limited us to 4 hits and a run as Gerald Buckley was whacked for 12 hits and 5 earned in 6.2 IP. Raul Rubio, former Avalanche SP, came out after 2.1 IP with an undisclosed injury. Jorge Salazar went 4-5 with 2 doubles (21) a homer and 5 RBI's (79).

9/20
DAY 6 ALK 2
W-Hogan (6-9) L-Solis (16-8) S-Warner (5)
HR DAY-Arroyo (23) Flores (1)
Carlos Hernandez left the game in the 2nd inning with an undisclosed injury. Jeff Hogan went 7.1-6-2-1-0-4 in the win.
Oh and this little gem, none in 15 years, 2 in a month.

WEEK 25 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Luis Chavez (CHI) 12-22 3 HR's 13 RBI's (.333-40-151)
CL POTW-Felix Sanchez (DAL) 12-23 4 HR's 8 RBI's (.323-29-106)

WEEK 25 POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (2)
2) Fresno (3)
3) Alasaka (1)
4) Brooklyn (-)
5) Corpus Christi (5)
OUT West Michigan (7)

NEWS/NOTES
Providence with a pair of deals. Surprisingly Brooklyn, 3 games ahead of Buffalo, moves 1B Vic Cahill and picks up a top tier OF prospect and a utility IF in Richard Harper. Conklin is actually an OF.

[gehrig38]

.

[gehrig38]

Going to the wire, 199 for Castro!

[gehrig38]

What a day...Might have also noticed Artie Johnson of West Michigan won his 21st. I don't envision giving Hall another start before the playoffs, so he'll lose the triple crown by 1 win.