Los Angeles Leopards (SVMLB)

[pauwoo]

Brooklyn Citizens (86-76, .531, 2nd NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (109-53, .672, 1st NL West)
To kick off the 2080 playoffs against Brooklyn, the team that bounced us out of it during the LCS in 2079, represents both a prime opportunity to exact some revenge and my worst nightmare. Brooklyn is a good team, likely much better than their regular season record suggests, and more than capable of bouncing us out again should we not play up to our capability. We played them 7 times during the regular season, winning 6 of those contests – so, we enter this series with some modicum of earned confidence, having said that, however, it’s important to recognize that any club whose roster includes the likes of Heathcote Kinton, SP Bradley Hughes, and 1B Quinn Charvat should not be overlooked, no matter how well we’ve performed against them this year.

1 of 7: Bradley Hughes (0-0, 0.00) @ Stephen Estevez (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 14-1. If our opening salvo was any indication then our intent here is to run roughshod over Brooklyn, to make sure they understand that we’ve not forgotten what they did to us last season, and to serve notice to the rest of the playoff clubs that this is our year… Otto was in prime form, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with TWO TANKS, 3 RBI, and 4 runs, and Estevez came correct over 5-innings of 2-hit, 9 K work as we decimated Brooklyn at home in game one. Walt drove in 4, 3 on a DINGER and another on a SAC FLY, Ethan and Dom drove in two each, respectively, and we managed a double, two triples, and 4 TRUCKS as a club… it’s all systems go for the La La’s, folks!

2 of 7: Sawyer Dahlgren (0-0, 5.68) @ Ram Chen (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 3-0. Satoru Ono opened up the scoring with a solo homer during the bottom of the 2nd and closed our scoring during the bottom of the 8th with a run-scoring double while our staff gave another great account of themselves with Ram earning the win in first career playoff start, T-Rex & Sepulveda each earning a hold, and Don Haag picking up his first save of the postseason. Otto, after going Gonzo in game one, was quiet here but OH HONG picked up some of the slack during a 2-for-3 day that included an RBI and a run… so, not as complete a dismantling this time around, but we got the win and head to Brooklyn up 2-0.

Elsewhere: Compton won game one of the AAA Championship Series against the Quebec City Admirals (a Montreal affiliate) by a score of 5-4. CF Richie Glow led our offense with a 2-for-2, 2 run, 2 walk day at the plate and Yong-Sun Choi picked up his first playoff win after pitching to only one batter during a relief appearance to close out the 7th inning. They also won game 2 while the big club traveled to Brooklyn, winning it by a score of 4-3 on the back of Wilfredo Felix’s 7-inning, 4-hit, 1-earned effort coupled with 1B Robin Mabuza’s 2-for-4 day at the plate.

3 of 7: Merl Crawford (0-0, 0.00) @ Case Tunnell (1-0, 0.00)
Win, 3-0. Otto opened up our scoring during the top of the 9th, showing off his wheels a bit by coming all the way around from 2nd on a well hit single by Hendo, and we’d get two more insurance runs 2 batters later when Walt Tignor made his mark with a 2-run double. Great stuff from Merl – 6-innings, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K’s – T-Rex was credited with the win, his first career playoff win, and Don Haag kept doing the voodoo that he do with his 2nd save in as many days on 20 pitches… he labored a bit, but in the end was able to get the deed done.

Elsewhere: The Peabody Briners, one of the most popular Bush League clubs in existence, managed to oust the Gulfport Growlers to win the Bush Series, 4 games to 2. The Briners’ LF George Brown put Peabody up for good during the bottom of the 3rd with a GRAND SLAM off Levi Posey, cementing his status as a Bush League legend from here to eternity.

4 of 7: Jan Hernandez (0-0, 0.00) @ Keith Baeza (0-0, 54.00)
Win, 6-3. Sweep City… Project: Revenge is complete! Otto drove in two early runs on a single and Walt Tignor brought it the rest of the way home, driving in 2 more and putting us up by a margin Brooklyn would not be able to overcome… Jan struggled over 4.1 innings of work, doling out three free passes and allowing three runners to plate, but the pen came through with Dwight Beasley picking up the win in relief, Major Hansen & T-Rex each securing the hold, and Don Haag, that stalwart of swag, Mr. Dependable, struck out the side during the bottom of the 9th on 12 total pitches, darts one and all, to pick up his 3rd save in as many days…



Elsewhere: The Compton Raiders were crowned AAA Champs after sweeping the Quebec City Admirals, and, in the majors Denver, Detroit (in the AL), and Philadelphia (joining us in the NL) each advanced to the League Championship… Brackets are attached.



Up Next: We’ll kick off the LCS at home against Palmer Parker and his 108-win Philadelphia Founders…

[pauwoo]

Philadelphia Founders (108-54, .667, 1st NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (109-53, .672, 1st NL West)
For as fierce as we’ve been this season, Philly has paced us every step of the way… their leader, Palmer Parker, turned in another, tip-top, 5.4 WAR season, their fielding dynamo, Hamza McDonnell was, well, dynamic once again, and their Ace, Linden Brittingham, showed off more tools than a hardware store during his 18-8, 4.26 ERA, 2.3 WAR campaign. This isn’t David versus Goliath; this is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla with the fate of the free world on the line…

1 of 7: Wilson Pena (0-1, 18.00) @ Stephen Estevez (1-0, 0.00)
Win, 8-3. 5-straight playoff wins with Ono, Hutch, and Walt each bringing in 2 runs, Estevez twirling his second masterpiece of the postseason, and our defense turning in two rally-killing DPs to turn Philadelphia away in game one. 4 doubles as a club, a run-scoring HBP from Dom that kicked off a 4-run bottom of the 3rd, and some tip-top relief out of the pen would round out our highlights here as we have shot out of a cannon to start the 2080 postseason, on an absolute mission to right last season’s wrongs.

2 of 7: Quirk Benoit (0-1, 11.25) @ Ram Chen (1-0, 0.00)
Win, 3-2 (11). William Henderson scored on a Walt Tignor single during the bottom of the 9th to knot this one up at 2-2 and scored from second again to win it during the bottom of the 11th on a Hutchinson double as we dug deep and found away to keep our playoff winning streak alive, extending it to 6 in a row and will now take a 2-0 series lead with us into Philadelphia. We got some good work out of the pen as well with T-Rex, Marte, Major Hansen, Sepulveda, and Haag each putting in work after Ram Chen left 4-innings into the game – as a unit, the pen allowed just 4 total hits and 1-run, charged to T-Rex’s account, to close this one out.

3 of 7: Linden Brittingham (0-1, 1.26) @ Merl Crawford (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 3-7. Palmer Parker took things into his own hands, finishing 2-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run, as the Philadelphia offense easily outran a so-so, 4.2 inning, 2-earned performance from Brittingham to claim victory in game three in front of their hometown faithful. Crawford takes the loss here with 5 runs, 3 earned coming across during his time on the hill as the offense, despite OH HONG’s 2-run dinger, his first of the post-season, was unable to match Philadelphia’s output. Costly error for Walt here too – while he did earn the series MVP in the first round, I do still miss PEPPER sometimes.

4 of 7: Jan Hernandez (0-0, 6.23) @ Bob Dauncey (2-0)
Win, 2-1 (10). Ethan hit the game winner during the top of the 10th, a run-scoring single, bringing Hutchinson home from 3rd and Don Haag picked up his 2nd win of the playoffs after putting Philadelphia down in order during the bottom of the frame. Not a lot to parse out here – Ono scored our other run after being brought in by Dom, Hernandez managed to give us 4-innings of 4-hit, 1-run burn, T-Rex, Marte, and Hansen each gave a good account of themselves in relief, and we’d bring in the minimum number of runs required while leaving 6 more stranded… up 3-1 with a ticket to the dance on the line.

Elsewhere: Detroit will be representing the American League in the World Series, dispatching the Denver Miners 4 games to 1, and winning that last one, in Colorado, by a score of 7-3.

5 of 7: Dontrell McNeil (0-0, 0.00) @ Wilson Pena (0-2, 17.61)
Loss, 3-4. Ty-Hye Cho, pinch hitting for Smith Wells, knotted things up at 2 runs each with a run-scoring single during the bottom of the 8th that would be followed up by two more runs courtesy of Plamer Parker as the Founders found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Ethan led our offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate that included 2 SOLO SHOTS and 3 runs, but it’d not be enough as Philly reached deep into their bag of tricks to pull out the victory in this one, staving off elimination and sending the series back to Los Angeles where we’ll hope to avoid losing in the LCS in front of our home crowd for the 2nd year in a row.

6 of 7: Quirk Benoit (0-1, 6.00) @ Stephen Estevez (2-0, 0.84)
Win, 3-1. Our first run wouldn’t score until the bottom of the 5th on a single, we’d knot this one up one frame later, also on a single, and the look on as Carson Hutchinson hit the walk-off double heard throughout the city… Two doubles, two swiped bags (Ethan, D-Rod), 3 perfectly executed double plays, and another win for Haag, his 3rd to go along with his 3 saves so far this post-season, would round things out nicely as we gutted out the victory here and are headed to the WORLD SERIES where we’ll face former Leopards, Tony Voorhis and Peter Garcia, with death on the line.

Up Next: World Series! Let’s go!

[pauwoo]

Detroit Motors (93-69, .574, 1st AL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (109-53, .673, 1st NL West)
We’ve arrived at the playground, a Crown Royal bag filled with our best marbles in our front pocket, a circle has been drawn in the sand… we’re ready, we were built for this, confident that putting all our best catseye’s, onionskins, and hoggers up for grabs will pay the ultimate dividend, that our most trusty shooter is ready to be flicked into battle. We couldn’t ask for a more deserving or formidable foe to face off against as we look to permanently etch our names into the annuals of time. Detroit is formidable – led by Tony Voorhis (.282/32/84) and Paulo Legna (.293/16/87) on offense and by Peter Garcia (10-8, 3.14) & A.J. Quimby (14-11, 3.49) from the hill – the Motors played us tough this season, finishing 3-3 against us H2H, and look to win their second championship in 36 tries, with that last one coming 46 long years ago.

1 of 7: Ram Chen (1-0, 1.00) @ Peter Garcia (2-1, 2.62)
Loss, 0-1. Peter Garcia pitched like the best hurler in all of professional baseball - 7-innings, 2-hits, nothing earned, and 7 K’s for the Detroit Superstar – and Paulo Legna hit the game-winning, solo TANK during the bottom of the 8th to give Detroit a 1-0 lead in this best of 7 series. Ram Chen went 3.2 as our Skipper, Michael Scott, elected to go to the pen early, which seemed like the move until Major Hansen gave it all away, bumming out our entire team, the 48K in attendance, and the millions watching around the world.

2 of 7: Merl Crawford (0-1, 2.70) @ Dontrell Wilburn (1-1, 3.18)
Win, 6-2. We’d pull even with Detroit as Ethan and Otto each brought in two runs during the 3rd and 4th innings, respectively, providing all the cushion we’d need to get the nod in this one. Dom and Walt would each contribute an RBI, Otto swiped a bag, and every time Detroit tried to rally our defense was there with a double play – we’d turn three of those here. Merl picked up the win, is now 1-1 in the playoffs after allowing just two runs in 6-innings of work. We’ll take what we can get here, earning the split in Detroit, and head back to Los Angeles for the next three, looking to win every single one of them… and, yes, I have it set such that the AS game winner gets home field in the World Series, it’s stupid, and I need to change it.

3 of 7: Matt Martin (1-0, 1.89) @ Jan Hernandez (0-0, 4.32)
Win, 2-0. It’d be our turn to shut out Detroit after Peter Garcia and crew hung a zero around our necks in game one as Jan’s 6-inning, 3-hit shutout set a tone that Major Hansen, Sepulveda, and Haag, earning his 4th save of the postseason in this one, would follow explicitly, hanging on the lead that Otto got for us off a SOLO HOMER during the 3rd inning. A solid win that featured lights out pitching, a workmanlike offensive effort, and the superb infield defense we’ve had on display throughout the 2080 campaign.

4 of 7: A.J. Quimby (1-0, 3.38) @ Stephen Estevez (2-0, 1.12)
Win, 2-1. Dominic Cooke went 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI, off a single, and called another stellar game behind the plate, leading our staff, once again, to a phenomenal outing as 5 pitchers took the mound, only allowing a single run to plate between them. Oh Hong was responsible for our other run, off a double (our masher has only hit 1 TANK this entire postseason), Mullens swiped a bag to keep the Detroit D honest, we fielded a crispy, Rodriguez-Hutchinson-Ono double play, and Don Haag, who may well be the MVP of these playoffs, picked up his 5th save and is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 5 Saves, 19 Ks, and only 3 free passes in 13 innings of work. I mean, there is a lot of right place, right time at play here too… but, sheesh the man just eats pressure.

5 of 7: Peter Garcia (2-1, 2.03) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 2-1. OH HONG and OTTO scored the runs, Hendo and Hutch drove them in, and Dontrell and Don Haag kept the Detroit Motors off balance as our Leopards captured their 3rd WORLD SERIES TITLE in team history with a balanced, even workmanlike, effort at home, much to the jubilation of everyone associated with the club, our fans, and anyone else who found themselves on the bandwagon this season. What. A. Year. This was definitely the best club I’ve constructed in this save, maybe in any save… there were times that they performed so well, that it felt unfair, like all the money I have at my disposal playing as one of the larger market clubs gave me such an edge, such a marked advantage, that a championship was just a forgone conclusion. And, while I know that OOTP giveth and taketh away in equal measure, that I should be happy with the good fortune, the luck of it all, it may be time to move elsewhere, to join a fledgling outfit as their new GM and try to repeat this L.A. magic with a much thinner bankroll, without superstars like Otto Isaac, Oh Hong, and Ethan Mullens… nah, it's too much fun being one of the biggest bullies on the block to stop now!

What a season! So much fun playing as this version of my club, the constant winning, OH HONG’s run at Tom Franzone for the HR title, my newest editions paying real dividends in the quality of my club, and another championship under my belt.

Thanks for reading through this, I do appreciate it.

[ayaghmour2]

And there it is! Congrats on the title!

[pauwoo]

Offseason Awards:

• C Dom Cooke (3), 1B Satoru Ono (2), and RF Ethan Mullens (1) each took home Gold Gloves at their respective positions… Dom and Satoru will likely not be Leopards next season as we have no money to extend their expiring contracts. Pepper Grant won a Gold Glove in Montreal – it’s his 6th such honor.
• CL Don Haag won the Kingston Cashmore award as the NL’s top Reliever – for the 2nd year in a row. His 56 saves in 2080 ties his career best of 2079 and ranks 5th all-time, tying him with our own Donovan Turnbull who accomplished that feat only two years earlier.
• CF Otto Isaac (5x) took home another Silver Slugger Award. Oh Hong was narrowly beat out at the DH position by Pittsburgh’s Tom Franzone. Bummer biscuits.
• Our Skipper, Michael Scott, took home the Manager of the Year award. This is his 2nd such honor in as many years. World's best boss, indeed.
• SP Stephen Estevez won the Victor Pacheco award. This is Stephen’s 2nd Pacheco in as many seasons.
• Note: Tom Franzone, after beating out OH HONG for the Silver Slugger award, beat out Otto for the 2080 Boyce Rigg. Well deserved, actually. Still stings a bit though…

Summary of Offseason Changes:
MLB Updates:
Hank Walker, owner of the Seals, sold his franchise to Andrew B. Hammond IV, who has announced his intent to move the franchise from San Jose to San Diego. The heir to the Bumble Bee Seafood fortune also announced his intent to rebrand the franchise as the San Diego Skipjacks.

MiLB Updates:

• Mexico City have announced the following changes within their affiliate system: The Tijuana Goats will move from AA to AAA, replacing the Victoria Royals who have moved to Vancouver’s system as their AA team. Additionally, the following clubs have been established to complete their affiliate overhaul – the Acapulco Archers will represent MC in AA, the Cancun Palms in A-Ball, and the Oaxaca Guerreros in Short Season A-Ball.
• Las Vegas have announced the following changes to their affiliate system: The Tucson Saguaros will no longer be part of the Outlaws’ affiliate system and have been replaced by the Reno Travelers (previously part of Phoenix’s affiliate system). Additionally, the Henderson Defenders, Vegas’ Short Season A-Ball outfit is relocating to Sparks and will be known, affectionately as the Mustangs in 2081.
• Phoenix have announced the following changes to their affiliate system: The Reno Travelers will no longer be part of the Coyotes affiliate system and have been replace by the Tucson Saguaros (previously part of the Outlaws’ affiliate system). Tucson will take over as their AAA club, forcing the Beaumont Drillers down to AA. Speaking of the Drillers, they’ve been moved to Scottsdale, AZ where they’ll be nicknamed the T-Birds, while the A-Ball Club will move from Cheyenne to Show Low, AZ, doing business as the Gamblers in A-Ball. And, lastly, the Sioux Falls Loggers were relocated to Holbrook, Arizona and rechristened the Rustlers for the upcoming Short Season A-Ball season.

Summary of Offseason Roster Moves:

• After arbitration, and even with Dom, Satoru, and Sepulveda all coming off the books (Free Agents, one and all), we’re way, way over budget… we’re not going to make enough moves to get our finances wear we want them to be, we’ll run a deficit and try to make up the difference in ticket sales, etc… to that end, I’ve made the following trades to get us a little bit closer (and because I need another Big League backstop)..
• Traded 32-year-old LHP Ignazio Armendariz (52/52) to the Montreal Alouettes, getting 29-year-old C Darby Helton (45/45) in return.
• Traded 27-year-old RHP Donovan Turnbull (69/71) to the Dallas Chaparrals, getting 25-year-old RHP Hank Wilson (49/54) in return.

Okay, I lied… I found a taker for Merl who, while great, has disappointed me too many times… this trade gets us to -$1.6mm, an amount I can make up for in ticket sales.

• Traded 31-year-old LHP Merl Crawford (60/60) to the Dallas Chaparrals, getting 28-year-old RHP Sherwin Kane (44/44) and 21-year old minor league RHP Yoichi Hashimoto (20/50) in return.

Free Agency:

• C Dom Cooke (30yo, 69/69), our backstop of 6 seasons, entered free agency and signed a $68.6mm, 3-year deal with the Dallas Chaparrals in the American League. Fare thee well, good sir.
• RP Manny Sepulveda (30yo, 69/69) signed a 2-year, $19mm contract with the New Orleans Gators.
• 1B Satoru Ono (29yo, 51/51) signed a 2-year, $18.6mm contract with the Seattle Metros.

Summary of Notable FA Signings:

• RF Jonah Dove (37yo, 67/67) signed a 1-year, $22.4mm contract with the Salt Lake Alpines.
• 2B Telma Tavares (31yo, 69/69) signed a 3-year, $80.4mm contract with the Charlotte Imperials.
• 2B Raymond Haynes (33yo, 62/62) signed a 3-year, $69.6mm contract with the Buffalo Nickels.
• SP Bradley Hughes (32yo, 60/60) signed a 3-year, $63mm contract with the Toronto Leafs.
• SP Lee Myers (29yo, 57/59) signed a 3-year, $59.4mm contract with the Charlotte Imperials.
• SP Michael Brisk (33yo, 58/58) signed a 2-year, $30mm contract with the Charlotte Imperials.
• 1B Rich Hamilton (39yo, 53/53) signed a 1-year, $14.5mm contract with the Vancouver Mounties.
• 2B Isaias Osborn (30yo, 53/53) signed a 3-year, $41mm contract with the New Orleans Gators.
• 3B Jason Spears (32yo, 75/75) signed a 3-year, $79.8mm contract with the Montreal Alouettes.
• RF Andre Beck (33yo, 62/62) signed a 2-year, $42.8mm contract with the New Orleans Gators.
• LF Tyler Hill (31yo, 53/53) signed a 2-year, $37.6mm contract with the Mexico City Jaguars.
• 1B Austin Rollins (34yo, 62/62) signed a 2-year, $53.6mm contract with the New Orleans Gators.
• SP Ferdinand Loving (36yo, 50/50) signed a 2-year, $25mm contract with the Dallas Chaparrals.
• CF Lonzo Gonzalez (29yo, 48/48) signed a 2-year, $24.3mm contract with the Seattle Metros.

Here’s a look at our lineup & rotation…. and the preseason predictions…



I honestly feel like the BNN punditry vastly overrated my squad…

[pauwoo]

San Diego Skipjacks (0-0, .000) @ Los Angeles Leopards (0-0, .000)
Outside of losing players like LF Tyler Hill (31yo, 53/53), 2B Raymond Hayes (34yo, 61/61), and CL Victor Carabott (31yo, 67/67), seeing their franchise sold by the previous owner to the heir of the Bumble Bee Seafood fortune and then unceremoniously moved to San Diego, and bringing in 3B Germaine Sturdivant (33yo, 55/55), the new look Skipjacks had themselves a quiet offseason. If your definition of quiet is a Wilhelm scream. San Diego’s focus during the offseason was to get settled into their new digs, introduce themselves to their new community, and put together a roster that will, hopefully, make up for in character what they lack in skills. This should be considered the first year of a tear down, rebuilding effort – the first painful step towards respectability and a sort of table setting season for the feast that the new Ownership claims is ahead. Here, your defending World Series Champions Los Angeles Leopards will do their level best to welcome San Diego to the MLB with a fist slammed squarely into their face.

1 of 162: Lucas Torres (0-0, 0.00) @ Stephen Estevez (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 1-0. No hit until the bottom of the 8th by San Diego starter, Lucas Torres, and with OH HONG and Otto both going 0-fer on the day, we’d rely on a perfectly timed, walk-off, SOLO DINGER from Ethan Mullens to win the day, saddling the Skipjacks with a loss in their first regular-season game as a professional baseball outfit. Not counting their 88-year history spent playing as the Golden State W’s and San Jose Seals, of course. Estevez went 4.2-innings, allowing 1-hit while fanning 7, before turning it over to the pen who, to a man, held San Diego hitless with Don Haag being credited with the win by virtue of tossing a 14-pitch bottom of the 9th that included 2 of our staffs 12 K’s.

2 of 162: Knox Hussman (0-0, 0.00) @ Ram Chen (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 2-1 (10). We’d require heroics to get the nod once again with Oh Hong doing the honors during the bottom of the 10th, as he did his best Ethan impression by hitting the game-winning, walk-off SOLO SHOT off Shawn Arguello in extras. Hutchinson drove our only other run in on a single during the bottom of the 4th, Ethan swiped his first bag of the 2081 season, and Don Haag picked up his 2nd win in as many tries with another tip-top, 19-pitch effort during the top of the 10th.

3 of 162: Alan Barrientos (0-0, 0.00) @ Jan Hernandez (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 2-3. Reading Minor extended San Diego’s lead to two runs with a SOLO HOMER during the top of the 6th off Jan, and, despite Oh Hong putting his 2nd TANK of the year on the board our offense couldn’t muster the strength to over come the Skipjacks lead as they managed to win their first game since moving to Southern California in our house.

4 of 162: Jim Girardin (0-0, 0.00) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 0-2. In what is starting to veer towards being a disturbing trend, San Diego threatened to no hit our club for the second time after carrying one into the 8th on Opening Day. This time it’d be backup outfielder BJ Cristoforo who broke it up with a single during the bottom of the 9th as our offense struggled to get anything going against Girardin in this one. For their part, a Josh Jamison run-scoring double would be all they’d need to earn the split, chasing Dontrell out of this one during the 6th. Surely, not the start I wanted, especially considering our opponent…

Record: 2-2, .500, t-4th NL West
Up Next: We’ll head across the country to Miami for a 3-game set against the Herons…

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (2-2, .500, t-4th NL West) @ Miami Herons (3-0, 1.000, t-1st NL East)
When the chips fall on the 2081 season, and it’s much to early for that now, the Miami Herons will, undoubtedly, find themselves rubbing elbows with the rest of the riff raff at the bottom of the NL East. That they’ve shot out of a cannon thus far, sweeping the down-trodden, still reeling from last years unceremonious exit from the playoffs (courtesy of yours truly), Brooklyn Citizens, to open the 2081 campaign isn’t just a nothing burger, it’s a storm cloud filled with them raining down on the NL East to wash away their false hope. Miami, in losing their best hurler, Cathal Magill, to free agency, pretty much letting things ride everywhere else from a player personnel perspective, and focusing instead on hiring a new GM, Louie De Palma, and Skipper, Alex Reiger, have all but thrown in the towel on 2081 as their full scale rebuild picks up steam. Here we’ll amble into town with designs on putting something tasty together to wash the bad taste of splitting against San Diego out of our mouth.

5 of 162: Dwight Beasley (0-0, 0.00) @ Cullen Craig (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 5-6. Despite outhitting and out defending the Miami Herons, we’d take the loss in Dade County, falling victim to an Imanov GRAND SLAM during the bottom of the 6th as he took a Beasley screwball yard and put his club up for good. OH HONG & Isaac each drove in a run, both on doubles, Hutch brought in two of his own, Mullens swiped his third bag of the year, and our infield defense laid down a stellar Hutch-Paulino-Tignor DP… but it’d not be enough as that one hit altered the landscape on this one in such a way that our boys were unable to traverse the altered terrain.


Elsewhere: Luke Walker, currently plying his trade in A-Ball with the Cancun Palms (a Mexico City affiliate), went off during a 3-for-3 day at the plate where each of those three was a TANK, driving in 4 of Cancun’s 6 runs as they went on to defeat the Daytona Beach Hurricanes by a score of 6-1. Walker was drafted 197th overall in 2078 out of Mississippi and likely has either an early retirement or a semi-fulfilling Bush League career in his future as his batting profile is decidedly ho-hum and he can’t defend a lick.

6 of 162: Stephen Estevez (0-0, 0.00) @ Paquito Ruiz (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 3-5. Up is down, left is right, and the Earth’s gravitational field has gone berserk as our La La’s dropped two in a row to the now 5-0 Herons, falling to 2-4 on the year, and suffering the early season indignity of being called out by Stephen A Smith IV during the excruciatingly long-running First Take program on the Ocho. Not much to parse out here… our backup backstop, Darby Helton, hit a two-bagger and a triple, Estevez was solid over 6-innings of 2-hit, 3-run ball, but, once again, we’d come up short in this one as the Herons charged three runs to our account during the bottom of the 7th to take a 2-run lead that they’d never look back from.


Elsewhere: Halifax’s Tiki Castillo, the 90th ranked prospect who was traded along with some other goodies from Brooklyn to Toronto during the offseason, gave a great account of himself at home against the visiting Inglewood Sentinels, delivering an 8-inning, 1-hit shutout to lead his club to a close, 1-0 victory. Tiki torched 12 of our batter, fanning each on a mix of his fastball-curve combo, to keep our youngsters off balance throughout the game. Also, we received word today that LF Palmer Parker, will miss 5 weeks due to a severe knee sprain… I hate it when a superstar goes down, tough one for Philly too. They’re, on paper, the best club in the entire league next to us, so, seeing their superstar go down kind of sucks.

7 of 162: Ram Chen (0-0, 2.08) @ Tommy Mathieu (0-0, 0.00)
Loss, 0-3. We’d find ourselves on the wrong side of a sweep in our road opener, falling victim to a club I have a low opinion of in the worst way possible – shutout on three total hits as a club while watching Ram Chen get brutalized by a Yoshimasa Sugawara 3-run DING DONG. With the win, Miami has secured 6 of the 60-wins the BNN Punditry pegged them for and have, thus far, made mincemeat of two tip-top clubs in the National League. Listen, it won’t last, but, for now, fair play to them.


Elsewhere: There is something in the water down in Cancun as unheralded off-season free agent acquisition 3B Marquis Freeman went yard THREE TIMES, driving in 5 total runs, to lead the palms to a satisfying 12-5 win over the Calgary Bonepilers. The recently relocated Cancun Palms are off to a ho-hum 2-4 start on the year, only seeming to claim victory when one of their guys puts three out during the game.

Record: 2-5, .285, 6th NL West
Up Next: We’ll head north to Montreal for three days of poutine, Alexander Keith’s Light Ale, and baseball.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (2-5, .285, 6th NL West) @ Montreal Alouettes (2-3, .400, t-4th NL East)
Montreal, not unlike Miami, are considered one of the bottom tier clubs of the National League this season… predicted to finish no higher than 5th in the NL East as a probable 70-game winner, the Alouettes are focused on their rebuilding effort while putting a respectable enough club on the field to keep their hometown faithful engaged. So far, they’re off to an expected ho-hum start and will be afforded the opportunity to put some bad ones on us here as we arrive in town on the poorest form I’ve seen out of our guys in some time. We’ll be facing off against the top of their rotation with Norm Rodriguez all set for game one, and, should our bats continue their early-season hibernation, the Alouettes will have no trouble keeping our hitters off balance.

8 of 162: Jan Hernandez (0-0, 1.50) @ Norm Rodriquez (0-0, 0.00)
Win, 8-5. Finally, after losing 5-straight, we’d dig in and find a way to get the win as OH HONG hit his 3rd TANK of the season, a 3-run BLAST that broke a 5-5 tie during the top of the 9th, all but ensuring our victory here. Lee Rolon put one out, his 1st in 2081, Otto drove in two on a double, and Ethan, despite being caught with his hand in the honey pot once during the game, scored twice for us tonight. Jan struggled a bit in allowing 5 runners to plate, but Nakagawa (3.2-innings of 2-hit baseball), T-Rex, and Don Haag, in his first save of the season, each came correct, holding the bad guys in check the rest of the way.

9 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (0-1, 3.60) @ Steve Allen (0-1, 27.00)
Win, 6-1. B.J. Cristoforo, subbing in for Otto today, went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring triple and two runs to lead our offense to another satisfying win, on the road, against the lowly Alouettes of Montreal… our backup backstop was at it in this one too – 1-for-3 with a 2-run TANK – and the staff, led by Dontrell’s 4-inning, 1-run effort, managed to keep Montreal away from home as Hank Wilson, who we got as part of that Donovan Turnbull trade with Dallas, secured his 1st win in a Leopards kit, while Nakagawa closed out the final two frames, allowing no hits while fanning one batter. 2 in a row now with a chance for a confidence-boosting sweep tomorrow.

10 of 162: Dwight Beasley (0-1, 10.12) @ Vincent Urquhart (1-0, 0.00)
Loss, 6-8. Unable to secure the sweep, unable to claw our way back to .500 on this young season, we’d have to settle for a series win as Montreal, salvaging some pride in front of their hometown fans, took it to Beasley in this one, charging 7 of their 8 runs to his account and chasing him from the contest only one out into the 4th. Otto hit his first homer of the year, Oh Hong secured his 8th riblet, and we turned a nice Hutch-Rodriguez-Tignor DP… none of which was enough to get the nod as we head back to the U.S. on a loss, taking a much-needed day off before getting back after it in Austin.

Record: 4-6, .400, 6th NL West
Up Next: We’ll head to Austin for a set against the Grackles.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (4-6, .400, 6th NL West) @ Austin Grackles (4-5, .444)
Austin is expected to continue inching towards sustainable respectability this season with another probable playoff berth but have not met that expectation so far this year… and, while it’s still early, and while we are basically in the same boat as them, Austin will likely need to get it in gear, and fast, as theirs isn’t the type of speed boat that will outrun the others without a significant jump off the line. They’re coming off a sweep at the hands of the Citizens in Brooklyn and will look to course correct against us in their house, hoping that our up and down form to start the 2081 campaign stays low after Montreal put a bad one on us during our last time out. For our part, we’d like to get back to .500, and then above that mark with a road sweep.

11 of 162: Steven Estevez (0-0, 2.61) @ Joe Matthiessen (1-1, 3.27)
Win, 3-2. We’d get things started off on the good foot as Hutchinson drove two in on a double during the top of the 6th to give us a lead we’d not relinquish the rest of the way… Ethan went 1-for-4 and scored, Otto plated during a 1-for-3 day of his own, and Don Haag earned his 2nd save of the season during a 12-pitch bottom of the 9th.

12 of 162: Ram Chen (0-1, 3.86) @ Sean Kenny (1-0, 2.84)
Win, 7-3. OH HONG put his 4th and 5th balls out of the park during a 2-for-3 day with 4 RBI and 3 runs, powering our offense to it’s second win in a row and single-handedly giving us a chance at earning our first sweep of the season tomorrow. Otto put his 2nd out today as well, a solo shot, D-Rod drove two runs in, and Hank Wilson picked up his 2nd win of the season after coming on to spell Chen 2 outs into the 5th. 2 double plays and an OF Assist from Otto, catching D.J. Wilders trying to stretch a double out at 3rd, would round out the highlights in this one as we managed to ascend to .500 on the year after our shoddy start to the season.

13 of 162: Jan Hernandez (0-0, 5.59) @ Dejuan Burns (0-1, 5.23)
Loss, 1-4. Our time as a .500 ballclub would be brief as the Austin Grackles managed to avoid being swept for the 2nd time in a row on the back of a vintage, 5-inning, 6-hit, 1-earned performance from Dejuan and CF Anthony Jamison’s two DINGERS, 4 RBI, and 2 runs. Each of Austin’s four runs were charged to Jan’s account, who sees his ERA balloon to 6.14 on the year as a result, leaving Ramiro Marte to mop things up as our offense, despite its 4 doubles and another OH HONG SOLO TANK, couldn’t muster the strength to overcome that three-run deficit.


Elsewhere: Former Leopard, current Metro, Satoru Ono had himself a day, finishing 4-for-5 at the plate with 2 TRUCKS, 4 total RBI, and 2 runs as his Seattle-based ballclub defeats their Cascadia rival, Vancouver Mounties by a score of 10-5. Good looks for Satoru – nice to see him doing well in his new digs… he was a luxury our owner would no longer pay for.

Record: 6-7, .461, 5th NL West
Up Next: Headed home where the Mexico City Jaguars await our arrival for a three-game set starting on the 22nd.

[pauwoo]

Mexico City Jaguars (7-6, .538, t-1st NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (6-7, .462, 5th NL West)
The Jaguars are off to a 4-2 start on the road, powered, no doubt, by their 2nd ranked offense - 2nd in runs scored, 4th in OBP, OPS, wOBA, and t-3rd in DINGERS. Their Achilles heel, as ever, is the pitching, where their suspect bullpen backed by their equally suspect infield defense (11th in efficiency, 12th in zone rating) is tied for 11th in runs allowed all but wiping out the ill-gotten gains of their fierce offensive unit. After winning two sets straight, they’ll arrive in Los Angeles having split a 4-game series against Las Vegas at home during their last time out. For our part, and with Brooklyn on the docket in our park next, we’ll need to use this set as a way to climb our way back to .500, and, with any luck, finally surpass that winning percentage with a sweep.

14 of 162: Doug Ehrenreich (0-2, 8.44) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-1, 3.00)
Win, 4-3 (10). We’d sort this one on a walk off, run-scoring single from Walt Tignor during the bottom of the 10th after our clubs’ traded zeroes for 3 innings after putting up 3 each during the 7th. OH HONG hit a triple, his first of the ’81 campaign, we hit three doubles as a club (Koloski, Hong, and Tignor), and Don Haag picks up his 3rd win of the season, striking out the side during the top of the 10th on 15 total pitches. Mexico City’s offense managed to get 7 total hits, but, outside of Cleveland Hunter’s 2-run TANK, didn’t get much to show for it in this one as we were able to keep them subdued and confused throughout the first of this 3-game set.


Elsewhere: Tom Franzone, last years HR champion and Pipers lifer, went 2-for-3 with TWO DING DONGS, 4 total RBI, and a walk as his Pittsburgh club defeated the Brooklyn Citizens by a score of 5-1. With the win, Pittsburgh improves to 7-7 on the year while Brooklyn falls below the .500 mark once more to 7-8 on the year.

15 of 162: Randy Keramidas (1-0, 7.88) @ Dwight Beasley (0-2, 13.50)
Win, 7-0. It was the Dwight and Kordell show here as Beasley put in 5-innings of 4-hit, shutout ball, followed by three more of the same from Kordell Littles, as the two combined for 7 total K’s while maintaining the clean sheet. The offense was fierce as well with Otto’s 3-run TRUCK leading the way while Oh Hong, Ethan, and Hutchinson each drove in a run to round out the scoring… just a thorough dismantling of the Jaguars’ beleaguered staff while ours shut down their much-vaunted offense. With the loss, Mexico City falls to 4-4 on the road, while we managed to climb above .500 for maybe the 2nd time this season.

16 of 162: Patrick Keith (2-1, 3.29) @ Stephen Estevez (0-0, 2.40)
Loss, 1-3. Our stay above the .500 mark was limited to less than 24-hours as the Mexico City Jags dug just deep enough to put a bad one on us on their way out the door… 3x All-Star, J.J. Barbari did the dirt for MC as his run-scoring double during the top of the 3rd brought their total up to 3 runs, giving them all the cushion they’d need to avoid the sweep in our park. Koloski and Hutchinson each struck out thrice, Ethan and Oh Hong went 0-fer, and Stephen Estevez, still winless after 4 starts, was saddled with his first loss of the season after earning each of the Jags’ three runs during his time on the hill. Look, we’re winning sets, now 3-0 for our last three series, since being swept in Miami, but we can’t seem to find a way to put together a substantive winning streak that will get us above the .500 mark for good.

Record: 8-8, .500, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll welcome Brooklyn to town, seeing them for the 1st time since sweeping them in the Second Series during our championship winning run through the 2080 postseason bracket.

[pauwoo]

Brooklyn Citizens (8-8, .500, 3rd NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (8-8, .500, 3rd NL West)
Brooklyn, like us, have been running in neutral since the start of the 2081 campaign, and, also like us, seem to be having difficulties opening up their engine despite carrying a full tank of gas. Here, they’ll have an early opportunity to get some sweet, sweet get back after being swept out of the playoffs last season by our championship squad. So far this season, nothing really sticks out for Brooklyn – their offense has been pedestrian, is ranked 6th overall with the individual high-water mark being that they come in at 4th for runs scored so far, while their pitching staff, ranked 7th overall with the 7th best Starters ERA, allows as many runs, 63, as their offense has been able to muster so far (also, 63). After winning 7-straight during the 2nd week of the season, Brooklyn has gone the other way here of late, going 1-2 so far this week and looking down the barrel of more of the same should they not come correct against the likes of us.

17 of 162: Case Tunnell (2-1, 2.76) @ Ram Chen (0-1, 2.57)
Loss, 2-5. The opening round of the 3-round cage fight would go to Brooklyn as they handled our squad with relative ease, keeping us pinned up against the cage defensively while their offense picked us apart, charging five to our account – 2 to Ram Chen, who falls to 0-2 on the year, and 3 to Hank Wilson, who sees his ERA inflated to an ugly 4.63 on the year. Not much else to work our way through as our offense was poor, with one of our two runs coming on a SAC FLY while the other came on a bases-loaded walk, throughout the game and our baserunning no better as both Otto and Paulino were caught trying to creep, each with their hand in the honey pot, on ill-fated steal attempts.


Elsewhere: Snout Lopez (yep, you read that right), of the Show Low Gamblers (a Phoenix affiliate), had himself a game against Carlin, going 4-for-5 with a double, 4 RBI, and 4 runs to help power his team’s offense to a 17-5 win over the Chukars. Atta boy, Snout. Way to get after it…

18 of 162: Keith Baeza (0-2, 7.30) @ Jan Hernandez (0-1, 6.14)
Win, 8-7. It’d take a 4-run bottom of the 9th to seal Brooklyn’s fate in this one with the game winner coming courtesy of a WP from Brooklyn reliever Pancho Vallejo that allowed D-Rod to score. Homers for OH HONG (7) and OTTO (4), a double from Koloski, a Hendo hit SAC BUNT, and a swiped bag courtesy of Hendo would round out the offensive highlights, and Don Haag, who we’ve not put in a save situation lately, picked up his 4th win with a 12-pitch top of the 9th. We’ll take it. Back to .500 baby!

19 of 162: Miguel Almeida (1-1, 5.91) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-1, 3.60)
Loss, 2-6. It’d be the Citizens who’d leave this set above .500 as we dropped to 9-10 on the year after Aramis O’Connell put in a 3-for-5 day at the plate with 3 RBI to lead his club to victory. Dontrell couldn’t make it out of the 4th and was pulled two outs into that frame after giving up 5 total runs to earn his 2nd loss of the season, and the offense, outside of Otto putting his 5th ball over the outfield wall, came up lame against Almeida who improved to 2-1 after putting in 5-innings of work against us. Not great. Certainly not how I drew it up.

Record: 9-10, .473, 4th NL West
Up Next: We’ll have a day off to rest and reflect, getting back after it on Tuesday against the New Orleans Gators, closing out April and moving into May…

[pauwoo]

New Orleans Gators (9-9, .500, 4th NL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (9-10, .473, 4th NL West)
In welcoming the New Orleans Gators to town, it will be the 4th at or near .500 club that we’ve faced off against in a row. Our hope here is that unlike that set against Brooklyn, we don’t settle into a mode where we out ho-hum the Gators in our house. With an offense that is decidedly middle-of-the-road, ranked 6th overall in the National League, and a pitching staff that ranks a few ticks below that, the Gators have got by on guile and balance so far, posting a .500 record despite having the look of a club that will finish this slog with a winning percentage much lower than that. And, while we’ve struggled, let there be no doubt about that, it’s not lost on us that this set represents an opportunity to finish out the first month of the ’81 season above .500 and head into May with fair wind and following seas.

20 of 162: Luc Felix (0-1, 2.61) @ Dwight Beasley (1-2, 7.98)
Loss, 3-9. With our hopes of finishing the month of April above .500 vanquished by the Gators, Mick Miller’s 2-run TANK, and Luc Felix’s 6-innings of filthiness, we can now turn our attention towards less lofty goals like, oh I don’t know, just winning a game, any game… Here, in allowing 7 runners to plate, Dwight Beasley sees his ERA climb to an untenable 9.47 as his record falls to a less than respectable 1-3 on the year… and, while we’d hit three doubles, swipe two bags, and get some highlight worthy material on defense, we’d not be able to focus our overall approach enough to find a way to win the first of three against New Orleans, and, as a result, drop to 5-6 at home so far.


Elsewhere: 38-year-old Jonah Dove, a 16-year vet currently plying his trade with the Salt Lake Alpines, achieved a near-miraculous career milestone as hi secured hit number 2500 as a professional baseball player. The 8x All-Star, 6x Silver Slugger, 1x Gold Glove winner, and 1x Boyce Rigg recipient has had a phenomenal big-league career, batting .289 with 382 JACKS, 1311 RBIs, 1425 runs, and a tip-top .371 OBP to go along with those 2500 hits and should be a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame once he hangs it up for good.

21 of 162: Tom Abraham (0-1, 4.09) @ Stephen Estevez (0-1, 3.20)
Win, 3-1. While not with the record we wanted, or expected, we’d at least put April in the rearview on a win, defeating the Gators by a score of 3-1 with Ethan’s run-scoring single during the bottom of the 4th being the difference maker and Estevez’s 5-inning, 3-hit, 6 K performance earning him his 1st win of the year to improve to 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA. 12 hits for the club, 10 runners stranded, and 3 runs scored… we’re doing enough to blow the doors off clubs, but, so far, haven’t been able to put all the pieces together simultaneously. We’ll finish the first month of the 2081 campaign with a so-so, 10-11 record, flexing a -3 RDiff, and performing inline with the PYT. Gross.

May 1st Standings, league leaders, and a view of the clubhouse are attached… note that in the first full month of the season, my starting staff has a combined record of 2-9 and that we are led in wins by our closer, Don Haag, with Hank Wilson behind him at 2. Yikes.

22 of 162: Pete Taylor (2-0, 2.25) @ Ram Chen (0-2, 3.12)
Loss, 6-8. I’ve been good, I’ve not overreacted, I’ve not offered up any overwrought platitudes about the sky falling or describing how an endless abyss has opened up beneath my feet… I’ve done none of these things as my club circles the drain to start the 2081 campaign. That my job is likely in peril, that we are, in fact, the paper tiger Stephen A Smith IV claims that we are, is of no real consequence here – what matters, the only thing that matters, is that we can’t seem to find a way to consistently win ballgames. Against clubs, the likes of New Orleans, that we should beat by accident, as if out of habit. Instead, and who cares about what happened tonight – the result, at this point, is enough – we are being manhandled, scooped, and cast aside by clubs who, if the BNN punditry is to be trusted, shouldn’t even possess the strength to get us off the ground. It’s a sad, sad state of affairs my friends.

Record: 10-12, .464, 3rd NL West
Up Next: We’ll continue our descent into madness, at home, against the San Diego Skipjacks, who, after splitting the season opening 4-game series against us, has managed to suck as badly as we have.

[pauwoo]

San Diego Skipjacks (10-12, .454, 4th NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (10-12, .455, 3rd NL West)
That San Diego has managed to tread water so successfully while being weighed down by the worst offense in the National League is nothing short of a miracle… well, okay, maybe not a miracle, but you get the point… 12th in AVG, OPS, and wOBA and 11th everywhere else, the Skipjacks offense isn’t really an offense at all, just a collection of stiffs standing in the box with little to no clue what to do in there. Their staff, surprisingly, or not, find themselves ranked 4th in the NL, led by the likes of Lucas Torres (80/80) and Knox Hussmann (60/60), and should be able to keep these games close enough against our downtrodden offense for their guys to snipe a victory or two in our park. I’d like to say this set represents an opportunity for us to get back on track, because that is, given our current standing, quite literally true… but, we’ve squandered better chances than this already and are likely good for that sort of thing once more.

23 of 162: Alan Barrientos (0-2, 7.13) @ Jan Hernandez (0-1, 5.75)
Win, 2-1. Walt Tignor’s 5th double of the year would represent the game-winner here as we managed to defeat the Skipjacks, and their tip-top staff, by the thinnest margin possible to kick off this set with a much-needed victory. Jan, still winless after giving us 5-innings of 6-hit, 1-run burn, got things started off nicely, matching Barrientos every step of the way to keep things within striking distance, and Don Haag managed to pick up his 4th save to go along with his 4 wins after closing the show during the top of the 9th on 16 total pitches.

24 of 162: Jim Girardin (2-0, 1.52) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-2, 5.30)
Loss, 5-6. San Diego CF Josh Jamison finished 2-for-3 with 2 TANKS and 5 total RBI, leading his Skipjacks to a 1-run victory over the La La’s despite our own OH HONG driving in 4 runs on a TRUCK and a DOUBLE of his own. Dontrell and Kordell each gave up a run through the first two outs of the 8th inning – unfortunately, T-Rex, brought in by our Skipper to finish the frame, gave up four runs instead, failing to record that last out before handing it off to Ramiro Marte who finished this one out for us. We outhit San Diego 11-9 but couldn’t manufacture the runs we’d require for the victory, instead leaving 9 of our men stranded behind enemy lines.

25 of 162: Lucas Torres (0-1, 2.51) @ Dwight Beasley (1-3, 9.47)
Loss, 2-9. Crushed. At home. In front of our wives, our families, friends, acquaintances… just thoroughly dismantled, parted out, and sold, piecemeal, to the highest bidder. We’re in a real bad way, folks… something is amiss, our mix is off, and, truth be told, I’m having an awfully hard time putting my finger on it. San Diego’s Reading Minor, Josh Jamison, and Alleyne Jennings each drove in three runs, mostly against Beasley who gave up 7 of the 9 runs scored, and Torres kept our guys guessing over 7.1-innings of work. Our pitching remains in shambles… maybe I should have figured out a way to keep Dom around as Lee Rolon seems to be struggling to manage the staff. Oh, and before I forget, we lost Nakagawa for a couple of weeks due to elbow inflammation. I wish my elbow was inflamed. That way I’d have an excuse for not picking up the phone when our owner, Phil Murray, inevitably rings me up this evening.

Roster Update: Nakagawa goes on the 10-day, Major Hansen returns to the fold.

Record: 11-14, .440, 5th NL West
Up Next: We’ll travel to Phoenix for a 4-game series against the Coyotes.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (11-14, .440, 5th NL West) @ Phoenix Coyotes (15-9, .625, 1st NL West)
That we arrive in Phoenix clinging to our 5th place standing like it’s a life raft, barely able to keep our heads above water, while the Coyotes enjoy a seat at the big boys table with 3 games (or more) in hand as they sit perched atop the NL West, is something of a surprise. Pitching has ruled the day for the Coyotes so far where they rank 2nd in the NL, 4th in both Starters and Bullpen ERA, and 2nd in runs against. Their defense has been stout as well – 1st in both ZR and efficiency – and, really, the Coyotes are just playing a dominant brand of defensive baseball that they’ve coupled with the 5th ranked offense so far this season. It’s my belief that they are making a living above their station, that they’ve already outran their actual skill level, and will come crashing back down to earth in short order – our hope here is that their inevitable descent coincides with our own reawakening…

26 of 162: Stephen Estevez (1-1, 2.55) @ Russell Wooten (1-1, 6.30)
Loss, 3-4 (10). After scoring the go ahead run on a single from Carson Hutchinson that brought Otto around during the top of the 10th, Phoenix would double that output on two separate run-scoring singles, with Harlem Peterson being responsible for the walk off as the Coyotes rebuffed our upstart crew by the thinnest margin possible, in extras. Hutch finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, Oh Hong secured 2 hits in 5 tries, and Steven Estevez left the game after 5 innings of work, with only two runs on the board…. Unfortunately, Haag would give up the ghost, blowing the save and falling to 4-1 on the year in the process.

27 of 162: Ram Chen (0-2, 4.98) @ Landon Sampson (1-2, 1.96)
Loss, 3-6. Walked off, again, on Haag’s watch… this time it’d be a 1B Senol Delalto GRAND SLAM that did us in, during the bottom of the 9th to drop our club to 11-16 on the year while Don’s record falls to 4-2 with TWO BLOWN SAVES. When it rains, it pours… Hong drove two in on a double, Ram gave a good account of himself over 5-innings of work, but, this one will go down as one of the uglier walk offs of my time in Los Angeles… I honestly don’t understand what is going on with the club. Craziness.

28 of 162: Jan Hernandez (0-1, 4.97) @ Evan Church (2-1, 3.08)
Win, 3-1. We scored our first run during the top of the 5th despite being NO HIT through 8-innings with our first hit coming on a OH HONG SOLO DINGER that gave us the game winning run, breaking this string of losses, getting us back into the win column, and, hopefully on track to being the club I know we are capable of being… a little bit of luck will, hopefully, go a long way in this case. Jan gave us 5.1 innings, only allowing one runner to plate, Duarte picked up the win in relief and now sits at 2-1 on the year, and Haag, his troubles in the rearview now, picked up his 5th save on 17 total pitches.

29 of 162: Dontrell McNeil (0-2, 4.56) @ Mike Clendenin (3-2, 2.83)
Loss, 1-2. Walked off, again, for the 3rd time in 4 games against the Phoenix Coyotes… I can’t think of a more disastrous way to end this four-game series… walked off in games one and two, nearly no hit in game three, and then walked off as we exit stage left… our club is an absolute shambles… may need to make some wholesale changes and soon.

Record: 12-17, .413, 6th NL West
Up Next: Does it matter? If it does... we’re headed to Dallas for a 3-game set next… so, um, yeah.

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (12-17, .413, 6th NL West) @ Dallas Chaparrals (17-11, .607, 1st AL West)
We’ll get our first look at defector Dom Cooke who is having a career best start, slamming off the line with 2.1 in WAR already and 8 home runs to go along with it… he’s also handled the staff quite well where Dallas is ranked 4th overall in the AL so far with a 2nd ranked pWAR and a 3rd ranked FIP. Dallas, unlike us, has played up to (or slightly above) their preseason prediction and look to have charted a course back to the playoffs for the second year in a row after missing out on the dance in the three consecutive seasons prior to 2080. It really seems to illustrate the importance of a tip top backstop… since losing Dom our rotation is in shambles… 8th overall in the NL with an 11th ranked starters ERA, 8th ranked pWAR, and 7th ranked FIP. We desperately need to get our house in order, obviously, though we are keenly aware that doing that against the likes of Dallas will be a tall order, indeed.

30 of 162: Dwight Beasley (1-4, 10.41) @ Ferdinand Loving (0-1, 4.32)
Loss, 4-17. And the hits (against us) just keep on coming… here our staff was battered, bruised, and beat down by the Chaps who put balls all over the park, scored runs in bunches, including 6 doubles, a triple, and 3 TANKS… Beasley got tuned up as 7 earned were charged to his account, with Hank Wilson and Sherwin Kane each giving up 5 more before the day was done… OH HONG was our lone bright spot here, driving in 2 runs on his 10th TRUCK of the year. Not a great day overall, however… good grief.

31 of 162: Stephen Estevez (1-1, 2.73) @ Walt Allen (4-1, 3.50)
Loss, 1-8. Ours is a malaise so all encompassing, so pervasive that I honestly have no idea how we’ll ever work our way out of it… here, as the Chaps’ Walt Allen was dealing, keeping our guys guessing in the box, and off-balance, our staff busied themselves by getting bullied once more. This Dallas spread their runs out evenly amongst our staff with Estevez responsible for two, Marte 3, and Duarte 3 more. Our only run, it should be noted, scored on a walk… we are in absolute shambles. It’s a sight to behold.

32 of 162: Ram Chen (0-2, 4.39) @ Merl Crawford (3-1, 5.88)
Win, 5-2 (11). We’d require extras to get this one sorted as Hutchinson’s 3-run TANK during the top of the 11th would be the difference-maker for us here… Our staff gave a good account of themselves with Ram giving us a solid, 4.1 inning effort followed by 3 solid, and 1 so-so, performance out of the pen with Don Haag picking up his 5th win of the season after tossing the final three frames for us in this one. At least we didn’t get swept…

Record: 13-19, .406, 5th NL West
Up Next: We’ll take a day off to get home before getting back after it, in our park, against the Boston Shamrocks… more interleague silliness on tap.

[pauwoo]

Boston Shamrocks (9-23, .281, 6th AL East) @ Los Angeles Leopards (13-19, .406, 5th NL West)
Looking for a course correction already in the early part of this 2081 campaign, the Boston Shamrocks, and their abysmal 9-23 record could not arrive at a better time – we are in desperate need of a win, any win, or just something positive to hang our hat on, and while I’d hate to overlook any professional baseball club out of an abundance of caution, it’d be a bold faced lie if I sat here and told you that I didn’t see this next set as an opportunity to right the ship. And, honestly, this is an opportunity that we desperately need to take advantage of, lest we never get this listing ship stabilized.

33 of 162: Teagan Rachel (1-2, 4.67) @ Jan Hernandez (0-1, 4.40)
Win, 1-0. A win is a win and all that – but there are the wins that inspire confidence and those that, well, do not… this was one of those that do not. Ethan drove in the game-winner on a single during a 1-for-3 day at the plate, D-Rod secured our only other hit, and Jan managed to pick up his 1st win of the season after giving us 5-innings of 1-hit, 0 earned, burn. Listen, we’ll take, we have to, and hopefully will use this victory as a building block for one of the greatest comeback stories of all-time. Or, at least one of the top 20 comeback stories.


Elsewhere: Anthony Jamison, of the Austin Grackles, the 2nd overall pick last season out of Arizona State, had his best day as a pro finishing 4-for-6 at the plate with 3 TANKS, 7 total RBI, and 3 runs during his clubs 9-7 win over the Seattle Metros in Interleague play. With the win, the Grackles get back to .500 on the year and are now 5 games off the pace being set by the 21-11 Phoenix Coyotes.

34 of 162: Abe Meinecke (0-5, 9.33) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-2, 3.90)
Win, 2-1. Again, we’d win this one by the thinnest margin possible, making it two in a row against the worst club in all of baseball… Simon Paulino went 2-for-4 with a run-scoring triple, Kumar Bovie secured his first RBI of the year, and our staff, with no less than 6 hurlers making an appearance, were able to keep Boston’s anemic offense at bay… Duarte was credited with the win, his 3rd, Kordell gets the hold, and Haag earned his 7th save of the season.

35 of 162: Ben French (1-3, 3.41) @ Dwight Beasley (1-5, 11.92)
Win, 4-3. SWEEP CITY… FINALLY! Again, a 1-run win, but, again, we’ll take what we can get, earning our first sweep of the season, and, finally, starting to look like an honest-to-goodness baseball team. Hutchinson drove in his 12th run of the campaign, Oh Hong finished 3-for-4 with a run, and T-Rex Stiles, after pitching to a single batter, picks up his 2nd win of the year. Haag with save #8 too… so we got that going for us.

Some housekeeping: Nakagawa is back from the IL, Kordell is headed back to Compton…

Record: 16-19, .457, 4th NL West
Up Next: We’ll be in Mexico City for three games…

[BirdWatcher]

First, very belated congrats on winning it all in 2080!

And even though the Leopards seem to be experiencing a bit of a post-championship hangover, good to see my man Oh Hong off to a strong start.

[pauwoo]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

First, very belated congrats on winning it all in 2080!

And even though the Leopards seem to be experiencing a bit of a post-championship hangover, good to see my man Oh Hong off to a strong start.

Yeah, I think that the loss of Dom Cooke, and his stellar C Ability, may be having a larger impact than I thought it would… my staff is in shambles and the offense has been inconsistent at best. Meh. It’s a long season, I’ve not yet started to panic (though it’s in the mail).

[pauwoo]

Los Angeles Leopards (16-19, 4th NL West) @ Mexico City Jaguars (15-20, .428, 5th NL West)
Playing at a similar clip to us, this set against the Jaguars may be as good a measuring stick as we’re likely to find in terms of giving us a good indication as to the progress, if any, that we’ve made. Coming off our first sweep of the season, our script here reads that we should keep the good times rolling and continue to climb out of the hole we’ve dug for ourselves so far this year…

36 of 162: Stephen Estevez (1-2, 2.83) @ Patrick Keith (2-2, 4.85)
Win, 5-1. Oh Hong and Otto each drove in a run, Hong’s on his 12th tank of the year, Ethan hit a double, D-Rod hit his second triple of the year, and Estevez picks up another win, his 2nd in as many starts, after turning in a 6.2-inning, 3-hit gem. A good, workmanlike win for the club – the pitching was solid, defense stout, and the offense did what needed to be done to earn another W.

37 of 162: Ram Chen (0-2, 3.77) @ Owen Sum (3-3, 4.11)
Win, 8-5. Kumar Bovie knotted things up off a solo homer during the top of the 9th and Ethan secured the win a few AB’s later with a 2-run TRUCK that, essentially, sealed the deal. Big day for Otto – 2 TANKS, 4 RBI.. he now has 7 jacks and 18 RBI on the year. Ram Chen gave us 4-innings, he’s now not made it past the 5th in two consecutive starts, Sherwin Kane sniped the win after throwing to only one batter, and Haag, in securing his 9th save of the season, has now tallied 400 of those for his career.

38 of 162: Jan Hernandez (1-1, 3.79) @ Ben McGillicuddy (2-1, 1.93)
Loss, 1-5. In the end, we’d not be able to secure the sweep, instead getting a kick to the seat of our pants on our way out the door… Jan took the loss, giving up 4 runs in 4 innings of work, and the offense couldn’t muster a single EBH as we head out of town with a much-needed series win, yet disappointed after letting our second straight sweep slip from our grasp.

Record: 18-20, .473, 4th NL West
Up Next: Las Vegas will join us in Los Angeles for a 4-game series starting tomorrow.

[pauwoo]

Las Vegas Outlaws (19-18, .514, 3rd NL West) @ Los Angeles Leopards (18-20, .474, 4th NL West)
After losing a set at home against Vancouver last week, the Las Vegas Outlaws were able to get their tires realigned during a road set against the division-leading Phoenix Coyotes their last time out, winning that set 2 games to 1 even though the final run tally, after those three games, was all knotted up at 10 each, respectively. It’s that kind of result, exactly, where things really feel like just a flip of the coin, that could be seen as a tidy little description of the their season so far… they’ve gotten by on guile, charm, their mischievous grin, and a cocked eyebrow so far in 2081, filling the role of a bootleg Tiger Beat cover idol sufficiently until a better built squad, like our perhaps, comes by to knock them from their lofty perch on the NL West table. Las Vegas is a good club, no doubt… their offense can crack, is ranked 1st in the National League in 6 of the 9 categories we track and 2nd in one of the 3 that remain. Their staff, on the other side of that coin, has not been as good – and, while our staff has resembled something more in line with what you’d expect in a coach pitch game, we’re hopeful that our hurlers find a way to dial it in and that our offense finds a way to take advantage of what these Outlaws give us.

Note: I tried to send Kordell Littles, who I once had high hopes for, down to Compton after he stunk up the joint while putting in work on the big club in early 2081, but was (pleasantly?) surprised when the Toronto Leafs picked him up off waivers, installing him on their big club where he will, no doubt, continue to be the reason Febreze was invented.

39 of 162: Shizuka Takeuchi (2-4, 3.00) @ Dontrell McNeil (0-2, 3.60)
Win, 4-2. Despite being outhit, 8 to 6, we find a way to score more runs than Las Vegas, relying on the likes of OH HONG and his 2-run dinger that opened things up for us during a 4-run bottom of the 5th, while Dontrell, putting in 5-innings of 7-hit, 2-run work in this one, and Don Haag, who’d earn his 10th save of the year, gave a good account of themselves from the mound as we kicked off this 4-game series with an all-important win. Otto got a couple of hits, Ethan scored when Weaver brought him around on a double, and we fielded a killer, Hutchinson-Paulino-Hong, double play, killing the Outlaws’ rally attempt, making their precision tuned offense look like a misfiring Geo Metro.


Elsewhere: Cleveland Hunter, no doubt enjoying life as a Mexico City Jaguar after splitting time between Vancouver and Charlotte last season, finished 4-for-5 with a 2-run DING DONG, 2 RBI and 2 runs to lead his club to a 5-4 win over San Diego… with the win, Mexico City extended their lead over the last place Skipjacks to 1.5 games.

40 of 162: Radoslav Borovsky (0-2, 4.19) @ Dwight Beasley (1-5, 10.86)
Loss, 2-5. Our second verse was nowhere near as good as the first… the Outlaws’ Aitor Cubas went 2-for-5 and put the go-ahead, 2-run TANK out of the park during the top of the 7th, all but ensuring a game 2 victory for Las Vegas as they managed to hold our head below the surface of the water long enough to make sure we’d not make that climb back to .500 today. Mullens left early with an injury, Otto secured two hits and scored, and Beasley, mired in a terrible season so far, was charged with his 6th loss of the season through only 8 starts.

Ethan’s injury is considered moderate – his sore back will have him listed DtD for a few…


Elsewhere: Former Leopard, current Miner, 2B Ian Hanan finished 3-for-4 with a double, a GRAND SLAM, 5 total RBI and 3 runs during his clubs narrow, 13-12 victory over the Portland Pioneers. With the win, Denver inches ever closer to snatching 2nd place in the AL West from Portland, finding themselves only half a game back after today’s hard-fought win.

41 of 162: Cam Murphy (5-2, 2.95) @ Stephen Estevez (2-2, 2.38)
Win, 5-3. The band was able to get back on the same page, laying down a verse as strong as the one we did during the first of this four game series, with the oft overlooked 3B Oliver Koloski acting as the soloist for us, finishing 3-for-3 with a run and 2 RBI to power our offense while Estevez, Nakagawa, earning his 2nd win of the season, and Haag kept time for us, with Don picking up his 11th save in the process. OH HONG hit his 13th long ball, a solo shot, Otto drove one in on a two-bagger, Hendo hit his second triple, and we found a way to put 5 bad ones on the board despite leaving 7 more stranded.

42 of 162: Peter Parrow (2-1, 1.48) @ Ram Chen (0-2, 3.60)
Loss, 1-4. Once again, our quest to get back to .500 on the year was thwarted, this time by a resilient Las Vegas squad who, undoubtedly, smelled blood in the water after running their total up to four runs during the top of the 5th. OH HONG got two hits and scored, Ethan managed to put a triple on the board, and we’d hit two doubles as a club… but, it was all for naught as we left 8 runners stranded while our staff, Ram Chen in particular, let Las Vegas have their way with us en route to the split. Chen took the loss and is now 0-3 on the year… our starters, as a unit, are 5-15 so far this season. Look, I’m not 100% sure how to show the math… like, should I follow the common core method, using all my scratch paper up, our just take the shortcut I learned as a lad and just write the answer? Basically, the problem is our play on the field and the answer, so far, is that we SUCK.

Record: 20-22, .476, 4th NL West
Up Next: More home cookin’, for whatever that’s worth (nothing), as the Philadelphia Founders head our way for a 3-game set over the weekend.