The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

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Here are the rosters, and fans in Chicago are furious. No Hugh Collins, No Ernesto Gutierrez? The league, or leagues fans, are clearly making it known we're not either A) liked or B) respected or C) Both....
In the Frontier League:
Calhoun, Melendez, Thompson, and Maitani are making their third straight All Star appearance.
In the Coastal League:
Suhayb, Soto, Whiteway, Strong, and Bill Alexander are making their 3rd in a row.

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TRADE NEWS
In a significant move of talent, the Houston Roughriders announced they’d traded 30 year old SP Jerome Billon and 20 year old IF prospect Ruben Reyes to the Las Vegas 51’s for 1B/DH Juan Cabrera. Billon was 2-7 5.25 this year and is a combined 17-24 4.88 in 59 career IBL starts. Reyes is in short season ball hitting 308 through 6 games in limited action. The 29 year old Cabrera has hit a combined .324/367/466 in 353 games over 3 seasons with 63 doubles and 37 home runs with 224 RBI’s. He will play 1B and hit 5th in the Roughrider lineup. Randall Bentley was recalled to take Billons spot in the rotation. Houston is now 44-43, 5.5 games out of the wild card. Billon steps into the 51’s rotation in the 5 role.

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Here's the box

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WEEK 15
1 vs Los Angeles (51-37 +6.5 in CL West)
All Star Break (3 days off)
3 @ Columbus (44-44 11 GB CL Central)

GAME 89
LA SP Toby Gray (2-2 2.58) stymied us on an 8-7-0-0-3-4 day. Closer Julio Gonzales, after yielding Hugh Collins 19th HR, got the save (18). Alejandrez (8-6 3.97) went 7.2-6-2-2-2-2 in the loss.
LA 2 CHI 1 (55-34 +10)

LEAGUE NEWS
Edmonton OF Javier Colon went 5-5 in a 11-7 loss to Phoenix yesterday. The 28 year old is hittin g316-17-59 on the year and learned about his All Star Selection immediately following the contest.

TRADE NEWS
In a significant move of talent, the Houston Roughriders announced they’d traded 30 year old SP Jerome Billon and 20 year old IF prospect Ruben Reyes to the Las Vegas 51’s for 1B/DH Juan Cabrera. Billon was 2-7 5.25 this year and is a combined 17-24 4.88 in 59 career IBL starts. Reyes is in short season ball hitting 308 through 6 games in limited action. The 29 year old Cabrera has hit a combined .324/367/466 in 353 games over 3 seasons with 63 doubles and 37 home runs with 224 RBI’s. He will play 1B and hit 5th in the Roughrider lineup. Randall Bentley was recalled to take Billons spot in the rotation. Houston is now 44-43, 5.5 games out of the wild card. Billon steps into the 51’s rotation in the 5 role.


ALL STAR BREAK

NEWS AND NOTES INTO THE 2nd HALF
New York lost reliever Fernando Zamora for at least a year. The 35 year old will have Tommy John surgery and be out for the next 12-13 months. Zamora was 5-3 with 2 Saves and a 4.79 ERA in 125 games over 169 IP with 175 K’s and 106 BB’s. Rumor has it he may retire instead.

GAME 90
Mark Williams had a nightmare game (1.2-8-7-7-1-2) and it was 8-3 when he left, but the game was just beginning. The Clipper staff was assaulted for 13 runs over the next 6 innings. Chicago scored 16 runs on 14 hits and was helped by 11 walks. Bill Alexander went 3-6 with 4 RBI’s, Collins 2-6 scoring twice and driving in 2, stealing his 22nd, Weaver went 2-5 with 2 doubles 2 runs and an RBI and Eric Hudson went 3-5 scoring twice and driving in 2. Ignacio Ferrer broke out of a slump going 1-2 with 3 runs 3 RBI’s and 3 walks. Chicago pounced on ace Will Cannon for 7 in 5 and then reliever Paul Cook for another 7 over 2/3rds of an inning. Sib van Bodegraven was the winner (3-2).
CHI 16 COL 11 (56-34 +11)

GAME 91
The Chicago offense is hot. Another double digit run game led by MVP Bill Alexanders 4-5 2 RBI night with his 34th HR. Hugh Collins went 3-4, scoring 3 times and driving in 2 with his 20th HR. Eric Hudson went 2-4 scoring and driving in 1. Alfredo Alejandrez (9-6 3.75) went 6.2-3-0-0-1-3 for the win.
CHI 10 COL 0 (57-34 +11)

GAME 92
Ramiro Morales (8-2 4.78) went 6-5-2-2-2-6 for the win. Pacheco (H16) Pennington (H10) vs Bodegraven (H6) got the game to Cruz who had a perfect 9th, K’ing 2 for his 26th Save. Paul Riggs went 2-4 with an RBI. Massi Lorenzelli went 2-4 with 2 doubles and scored twice.
CHI 3 COL 2 (58-34 +12)

WEEK 15 RECAP
San Antonio slugger Dave Williams went 9-15 with 2 HR’s and 9 RBI’s to take home FL PotW honors.

Cy May continued his resurgence from a slow start going 9-21 with 5 HR’s and 7 RBI’s to win CL PotW honors.

Power Rankings
1) Philly
2) Chicago
3) El Paso
4) Los Angeles
5) Tulsa
Bottom 5
20) Buffalo
21) New York
22) Fresno
23) New Hampshire
24) Michigan

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Here's the standings with a look back to June 1, to see who's done what

In the Frontier League:
FL East:
Brooklyn's gone 17-19 but maintained a lead due to the rest of the division stinking. Buffalo going 13-22 has allowed Staten Island to move into 2nd with their 19-17 over the same period. The Knights are playing for their draft slot, having gone 12-25 over that period.

FL Central
San Antonio was holding a slim lead and went 20-16, problem is Tulsa caught fire and has gone 25-11 to grab a 4 game lead over West Michigan who went 22-14. Dayton stayed respectable going 18-19.

FL West
El Paso's 20-17 gave them a 6 game pickup as Sacramento went 13-23 to lose the lead. Edmonton went 19-17 and Phoenix went 19-16.

CL East:
Philly stayed good, going 22-14 but Baltimore's 21-15 has kept them within shouting distance. One of them will win this division. The Riverhounds went 15-21 and New Hampshire 16-21.

CL Central:
We went 22-14 to open it up, but here comes Houston. They went 22-15 to enter into the WC discussion. Columbus has gone 18-22 and Corpus Christi 15-21.

CL West: The hottest team in the IBL since June 1 is here. LA has gone 27-9, to move from 4 back to a stunning 7.5 game lead as Fresno tanked, going 12-25. Vegas was barely better at 15-20 and Michigan remains the odds on favorite for the 1 or 2 pick next year.

The WC race has benefitted by some bad runs, with 3 teams now within a game and a half in the Frontier League, and Baltimore's run, combined with some horrific runs by others, has seen them blow open the Coastal League WC race.

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WEEK 16
1 @ Columbus
3 vs Houston
3 @ Pittsburgh

STUFF
Fan interest has gone down to 90, I wonder why? Team is playing very well. Attendance is still up over 19% (19.5). Eric Coates is finally up over .200, at .212, but it took sending him back to A ball to get it done. #1 pick this Gerardo Zamora is 7-7 4.04 at AA Bakersfield. He’s looking like he could come quickly. I won’t push it though. He’s looking like my power ace in a few years. 2012 #1 Anthony Martin is still in A Ball, like Zamora he’s only 20, but the upside isn’t what it was. He’s pitching well (6-3 2.40 in 14 starts).

GAME 93
De La Torre goes 6.1-3-2-2-4-5 and gets a no decision when the pen fails to hold the lead. But Jose Torres picks up his first IBL save in a perfect 9th. Bill Alexander again leads the offense going 2-4 with 2 solo HR’s (36) and Chartier goes 2-4 with a run and an RBI, as well as stealing his 15th. Columbus SP Marcos Diaz (5-5) went the distance in the loss (9-9-4-4-0-7).
CHI 4 COL 3 (59-34 +12)

STUFF
Mike Davis is eligible to come off the DL, and will head to Tulsa for 2-3 starts. When he’s ready I’ll send Bentley back, he’s still struggling.

Tulsa’s Joel Downs continued his outstanding season with a 2 hit shutout of West Michigan yesterday. Downs is 12-3 2.38 after going 27-16 the past 2 seasons. The 28 year old has been a huge part of the Drillers run the past 7 weeks.

Jean Chartier is now tied with Thomas Hood (LV) for the batting lead at .362.

Alexander has taken firm hold on the IBL HR Crown with 36, 5 ahead of Sacramento’s Jason White and 7 ahead of his closest Coastal League competitor Carlos Arredondo. He also leads the IBL in RBI’s at 94, 4 ahead of LA’s Henry Wilson.

Tulsa’s Downs has tied Walt Thompson with 12 Wins, 1 behind IBL Leader Chris O’Slattery (BAL) and his 13. O’Slattery leads the CL in Wins (13) K’s (139) and ERA (2.84).

GAME 94
First time seeing Houston in awhile, They’re getting hot at the right time it appears. We've beaten them 5 of 6 so far this year. Gonzalez and Donahue are both hurt, Donahue is DtD and Gonzo is out 2 more weeks. They are 3rd in the CL in HR’s at 120 10 behind us in 2nd.

Jeff Bentley showed the promise we got him for. Matching Houston SP Steven Garner (4-6) with a 7-4-0-0-3-5 outing. The pen held the line with a 1-0 lead until Juan Cabrera singled home Paul Reeves in the 8th. Don Weaver answered in the bottom with his 7th HR. Jose Torres came on in the 9th and gave up a leadoff single but managed to get 2 outs, with runners on 1st and 2nd. Carlos Pereira then lined a single scoring Gus Case to break the tie. Reeves then drilled a 2 run double for the margin. Garner went 8-5-1-1-1-7 and Tom Conklin had a perfect 9th for his 19th Save.
HOU 4 CHI 1 (59-35 +11)

STUFF
Mike Davis went 7.1-5-2-2-2-3 in his first rehab start. Wes Morgan is due back Sunday or Monday. I’ll likely send him out to get 15-20 AB’s.

GAME 95
Jean Chartier singled in Bill Alexander to knot the game at 4 in the 8th and then turned around and opened the floodgates on a Houston 3 run 9th when he kicked a routine double play grounder. Houston took advantage to score 3, and win. Chartier was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s and Bill Alexander went 2-4 with 2 doubles. Hugh Collins stole his 23rd base. Mark Williams went 6-6-4-4-2-4 dueling Sergio De La Garza’s 6.1-7-3-3-0-5. Orlando Ruiz blew the lead but got the win (5-0) as Tom Conklin saved his 20th.
HOU 7 CHI 4 (59-35 +10) Houston is now the team trailing us.

GAME 96
Jean Chartier grounded into a DP with the bases loaded in the 9th inning of a 9-6 game. Alfredo Alejandrez (9-7) was unable to hold a 5-0 lead, surrendering 2R HR’s to Paul Reeves (10) and Dave Miller (19) in 6-7-6-6-2-9. Craig Frank gave up 3 runs on Art Doanes 9th HR in the 8th. Hugh Collins went 3-5 with 4 RBI’s hitting his 21st HR and 1 of 5 Iron Pig doubles. Chicago committed 3 errors in the loss (Weaver (2) Gutierrez (5) and Flores (3)).
HOU 9 CHI 6 (59-36 +9) and Houston sweeps us back.

TRADE NEWS AND STUFF
Marhsall Wall tossed a 4 hitter in Fresno for a 5-0 51’s win. Wall moved to 11-5 4.70. The 28 year old was 12-6 3.42 in 22 starts last season after his call up.

A trade today, unpopular with fans, but one that nets us a move up in next years draft, as well as 2 young prospects and a potential backup IF. Chicago sends 28 year old MR Craig Frank to Pittsburgh, along with our 2015 first round pick, and 573K, for 27 year old 3B Fred Huff, 20 year old OF Gabriel Fries and 22 year old IF Jim Kelly and the Riverhounds 1st draft pick. The draft pick will likely put is in the mid to early first round. Huff is a good fielding 1B who hits RH and will likely head to AAA, where he is now (AAA #’s are 259/25/66 this year). In two call ups he’s hit little, .179/276/342 in 99 games over 257 AB’s with 11 HR’s and 33 RBI’s. Fies is a guy our people like. He’s young, was the Buffalo Bisons 19th round pick in the 2012 draft out of Chelsea HS in Chelsea, VT. A 2013 Rookie league all star his bat projects to be a high average one if he matures. LF or RF who hits LH. He’s likely to head to A ball. Kelly is interesting. A good defender who hits RH, his power could be nice if it comes to fruition. He too will head to A ball for a bit.

With Pittsburgh in town Frank made the ‘stroll’ across the field, to his ‘new’ clubhouse.

INJURY NEWS
Fresno lost the services of 22 year old SP Simon Kamerman for the rest of the year. He will have surgery to repair a frayed cuff and should be ready by next spring. He was 1-1 with a 4.73 in 5 starts over 32.1 IP. Fresno acquired him from Brooklyn last year.

On the same day Fresno learned slugger Qi-chen Jung will be out at least another week. The 34 year old is hitting 288-19-59 in 87 games this year.


GAME 97
Pittsburghs Ross Tunstall hit 2 solo shots (19) off SP Ramiro Morales (8-3) as he went 5-7-5-5-2-2 in the loss. Chris Burns (4-6) went 7-7-1-1-3-4 and former Iron Pig Craig Frank got the final 6 outs in perfect order. Hugh Collins went 3-5 with his 24th SB and Ignacio Ferrer went 2-2 before being removed with a tight hamstring.
PIT 5 CHI 1 (59-38 +8.5)

INJURY NEWS
Baltimore lost CF Mike Bauer to a broken knee today. The 24 year old was just recently called up. He’ll miss the next 4-5 months. One of the games best defensive OF’s he will be missed down the stretch. The Railcats are currently 54-41 and 11 games back of 1st place Philly. They lead the Wild Card by 4.5 over Houston and Vegas.

Speaking of Vegas, the 51’s suffered a huge blow to their playoff hopes when they put 24 year old stud Glen Harvey on the 60 day DL. The SP will miss the next 12-13 months after news he would have Tommy John surgery was reported. Harvey was 8-7 3.99 on the year throwing 140IP in 20 starts with 105K’s. Vegas had just gotten ace Matthieu Cafasso back from injury.

GAME 98
Carlos De La Torre (10-5 4.57) went 7 strong (7-4-1-1-4-5) and the Iron Pig offense got after the Riverhound staff. Paul Riggs went 2-4 driving in 3 with a double, Eric Hudson went 2-4, scored twice and drove in 2 on a double and his 8th HR and Massi Lorenzelli went 2-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s on a triple. Hugh Collins went 2-3 scoring once on a double and his 5th triple. Ed Hobbs fell to 3-11 5.54.
CHI 8 PIT 1 (60-38 +8.5)

STUFF
Tulsa Catcher Jose Cabral had a day. Going 4-4 with 3 HR’s and 5 RBI’s in a 10-5 Tulsa win. Cabral is hitting 259-11-28 in 46 games at Tulsa.

Baltimore Railcats slugger Lando Jongmans went 5-5 with 3 RBI’s in a 18-6 win over Michigan today. Jongmans is hitting 287-13-52 on the year.

River Cats Ace Vincent Romero threw a 4 hitter against West Michigan today. Moving his record to 9-7 3.68 after a slow start to the season.

GAME 99
Wes Morgan is back tomorrow and Jeff Bentley and Mike Davis (on rehab) are starting today). If all goes well in Davis’ start they’ll swap places the next time around the rotation.

Jumped all over the starter again today. 11 runs on 18 hits when all was said and done. Led by a trio of 3 hit days. Gutierrez went 3-6 with a run and a double, Collins went 3-5 with 2 runs, and Raul Feliz went 3-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on 2 singles and his 5th HR. Jean Chartier hit his 22, going 2-4 with 3 RBI’s. Collins also stole his 25th base. On the mound Jeff Bentley finally broke through the win column (1-4) going 6-5-4-4-3-7.
CHI 11 PIT 4 (61-38 +9.5)

WEEK 16 RECAP
Mike Davis got hammered in his rehab start, so we’ll give it one more time around.

Dayton Dragon OF Luis Rubio took home FL PotW honors after going 12-25 with a HR and 6 RBI’s last week.

Pittsburghs Ben Hutchins won CL PotW honors for his 12-30 3 HR 10 RBI week. (went just 3-12 with a HR and 2 RBI’s in our 3 game set)

TOP 5 players in WAR
1) Curt Whimster (TUL) 6.5
2) Jean Chartier (CHI) 5.6
3) Bill Alexander (CHI) 5.0
4) Jason White (SAC) 4.9
5) Thomas Hood (LV) 4.8

POWER RANKINGS
1) Philly
2) Chicago
3) El Paso
4) Sacramento
5) Los Angeles

Bottom 5
20) Fresno
21) New York
22) New Hampshire
23) Corpus Christi
24) Michigan

TRADE NEWS
Buffalo agreed to a deal today sending 27 year old MR Jake Duncan and 700K to Los Angeles for 18 year old SP prospect Gabriel Gomez. Duncan was 1-3 with 20 Saves and a 2.89 ERA. He was acquired by the Bisons last year, from Brooklyn in a 3 player deal. He will move into the LA pen as a setup man to Closer Julio Gonzales (3-2 19 SV 3.29). Duncan has appeared in 169 games over the past 3 years going 9-11 with 25 Saves and a 3.57 ERA. The 18 year old Gomez was the Sky Sox 1st pick (24th overall) in the 2013 draft and was rated IBL’s #35 prospect in 2014.

ORG NEWS
Tulsa OF Hector Zaragoza went 10-24 with 5 HR’s and 11 RBI’s to win the United League PotW Award. The 26 year old hitting 289-13-47 in 64 games.

Belleview SS Jim Carter took home MW League PotW honors for his 11-26 2 HR 9 RBI week. The 22 year old is hitting 263-13-61 in 78 games for the Class A Rawhides.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Staten Island has closed to within 2 in the FL East, Brooklyn is struggling too.

Tulsa picked up a game on San Antonio and at 58-41 is now 4 up.

El Paso is 2 up on Sacramento in the West. Sacramento leads the Silver Stars by 2.5 in the WC.

Philly remains on a record win pace, opening up the CL East to 10 games. 2nd place Baltimore, while 10 out in the Division, is 4.5 up in the WC at 56-41, over Vegas.

Houston is on a 14-8 run, moving into 2nd, 9.5 back, but just 5.5 back in the wild card.

LA remains hot as heck, going 18-4 in their last 22, to move from .5 up to 6 up on Vegas.

Thomas Hood (LV) leads all IBL hitters, still, at .360, just 1 pt ahead of Chariter and 2 ahead of Whimster (TUL)

Alexander leads all sluggers with 36 HR's, 4 ahead of Maitani (EP) and White (SAC)

He is also pacing the IBL in RBI's with 97, 6 ahead of Henry Wilson (LA)

Chris O'Slattery has to be close to locking up the Koufax. His 14 win lead a host of guys at 12, Thompson is eyeing a new K record, he's at 170, 41 more than anyone else in the FL and 24 more than O'Slattery in the CL.

George Bean (SAC) leads all pitchers in ERA at 2.56, with Joel Downs (TUL) at 2.76 and Thompson at 2.78.

Tommy Hobbs (LA) leads the CL at 2.93.

Julio Arroyo has wrested the Saves lead from Ernesto Cruz at 28. Hard to imagine that not happening with as many wins as Philly has.

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WEEK 17
1 @ Pittsburgh
3 vs Baltimore
Off Day
2 vs New Hampshire

Stuff
Eric Coates is starting to hit, now at .243/373/427 in Class A Denison

2014 #1 pick Roberto Martinez is 2-1 2.03 in 4 starts. 26.2 IP 17 Hits 14 walks and 24 K’s in Omaha.
2012 #1 pick Anthony Martin is 6-3 2.40 in 14 starts in Denison. 82.5IP 45 hits 42 walks and 71 K’s
2013 #1 pick Gerardo Zamora is 7-7 3.97 in AA. 20 starts 127 IP, 112 hits, 64 walks and 112 k’s

Fan interest is now at 89. Eric Hudson is now the #5 most popular player. Attendance is up 19.5 % still. We will draw well over 3.1m of last year I think.

GAME 100
Up against Vince Bray (11-2 3.12 and 2nd in the CL in K’s with 140)

Mark Williams (10-4) wasn’t up to the task but we almost made a game of it. He went 5-9-6-6-1-3 and gave up 4 HR’s. Hugh Collins got thrown out in the 9th before a rally that could have won the game! Bray (12-2 ) let us back in but ended up going 8-8-5-5-3-10. We got 3 hits of closer Joe Boswell but the CS killed the inning and he saved his 13th save. Kris Wright went 3-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on 2 HR’s (9). Collins went 3-5 with his 22nd HR and 3 RBI’s, Alexander had 2 hits and Gutierrez drove in 2.
PIT 6 CHI 5 (61-39 +9.5)

LEAGUE STUFF
Brooklyn 1B Dave Norfleet went 5-7 with 4 RBI’s in a 7-6 15 inning Cyclone win over Tulsa. The 35 year old is hitting 291-14-57 in 95 games.

GAME 101
Alfredo Alejandrez (10-7) was the story today. Notching his first CG of the year (Hell I think this is the first time the entire season he threw a pitch in the 8th honestly) he went 9-4-0-0-2-7 and Massi Lorenzelli hit 2 doubles and drove in 2, and Leon Russel doubled in 2 as well.
CHI 5 BAL 0 (62-39 +10.5)

LEAGUE STUFF
Phoenix SP Tanner Ashley threw a 2 hitter in Brooklyn today. The 26 year old K’d 4 and walked 2 in a 11-0 win to move to 7-10 5.97 on the year. Ashley split the 2013 season between the Bisons and Dragons going 7-9 5.27 and was acquired by the Greyhounds for 3B Andrew Zapata at the 2013 Winter Meetings.

GAME 102
Mehpare Isfahani was the story today, and just about any day. The Railcat CF went 5-5 with a 2B and 3 HR’s, scoring 5 times and driving in 5. The HR’s and Runs scored were Baltimore records. Lando Jongmans also tied a Baltimore record with 2 triples. Randy Boyd hit 2 HR’s (20) and drove in 5 runs as well to lead a 15 run 16 hit Baltimore attack. It came at the expense of Iron Pigs pitching, with Ramiro Morales (8-4) giving up 4 HR’s in 4 IP, Jose Sanchez giving up 5 runs (4 earned) in 1.2 IP, and Jose Torres giving up 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings. Ernesto Gutierrez went 3-4 with a double a SB(14) and 2 runs scored in the loss. Fernando Martinez (7-7 3.71) went 6.1-5-3-3-5-3 for the win.
BAL 15 CHI 3 (62-40 +10.5)

GAME 103
Up against Koufax front runner Chris O’Slattery today. He’s 14-4 3.05 with 146 punch outs in 165 IP.

O’Slattery moves to 15-4 2.95 with a complete game 6 hitter (9-6-1-1-1-3). It would NOT have mattered as Chicago pitching was just CRUSHED, again. Baltimore scored 13 more runs on 16 more hits with De La Torre (10-6) giving up 8 (7 earned) in 3.1, Potts 2 in 3.1 and Pennington 3 in 1.2. Ishfahani is now 8-11 with 8 runs and 7 RBI’s in the past 2 games as he hit another HR (17) and scored 3 times. Randy Boyd went 4-6 with 2 doubles and 4 more RBI’s (tying Alexander at 99) to give him 9 in the past 2 days.
BAL 13 CHI 1 (62-41 +9.5)

OFF DAY NEWS
A MUCH needed off day.

The LA Sky Sox are 22-5 in the past 27 to open an 8 game lead over 2nd place Vegas. Philly is 70-31 (19-7 in the last 26), 11.5 up on the team that just beat the snot out of us. Baltimore is 5.5 up in the CL WC.

GAME 104
Davis gets his 3rd and hopefully last rehab start today and I am not going to skip Bentley. I am wondering if Alejandrez amd the rest of the staff doesn’t benefit by a 5th day. With a 9.5 game lead I can be careful and also get Bentley more experience. We have cellar dwelling New Hampshire now. Young Joreao Tio, former Iron Pig prospect, is hitting 245/290/361 in 83 games this year with 20 doubles and 15 stolen bases. He’s punched out 51 times and walked just 18. He hit 254/278/440 last year in 76 IBL games.

Jeff Bentley (2-4) went 7-4-1-1-2-3 and the offense put up 6 runs on 7 singles and a double, and 4 stolen bases (Chartier (18), Gutierrez (15) and Feliz 2 (18). Feliz went 1-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Jose Pacheco got the final 6 outs for his 2nd Save after we scored 2 in the top of the 9th.
CHI 6 NH 2 (63-41 +9.5)

INJURY NEWS
The Greyhounds put 32 year old Closer Colton Courtney on the 15 day and he’ll likely miss 3 weeks or so with a strained hammy.

Baltimore lost 26 year old SP Flynn Woods for 2 weeks to an intercostal strain. Woods was 6-7 4.54 in 20 starts.

ORG NEWS
Mike Davis was recalled this afternoon and Jeff Bentley was optioned out. Bentley is improving and this time around was a lot better than the last.

TRADE NEWS
We made a deal today. Sending 29 year old 1B Donald Weaver to Buffalo for 28 year old lefty SP Spike Davis. I was a tad surprised after putting the line in the water on Weaver, that Bison GM Carlos Rosales came back with this as a name. Buffalo is in rebuild more and I wasn’t seeing the match for a 29 year old DH really. Weaver does have legit big time pop though. Our scouts do like Davis’ arm. He was dealt to Buffalo (from Brooklyn) last year and is a combined 19-18 with 4 Saves and a 5.19 ERA in 295 IP. He’s K’d 218, walked 136 and given up 327 hits. Our defense should help him, as he’s almost a 70% GB guy. We swapped picks in the 2nd round as well. Ramiro Morales was sent down, and Enrique Franco was recalled.

GAME 105
Hugh Collins drove in Wes Morgan with a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th of a sloppy game. Mark Williams went 6.1-6-3-3-2-5 but Riley Potts and Jose Torres couldn’t hold the line in the 7th. Van Bodegraven and Pennington wiggled out of jams and Ernesto Cruz went the final 1.1 to win his 3rd. Jean Chartier went 2-5 and stole 2 bases to join the 20/20 club. Morgan went 2-5 with a run and a double, Enrique Franco went 2-4 with an RBI. Collins was 2-4 and Massi Lorenzelli went 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
CHI 5 NH 4 (64-41 +9.5)

WEEK 17 RECAP
Hector Guzman, the 20 year old SP we dealt to Vegas in 2013 along with Sergio Lopez for Mel Watson? He punched out 15 and then 16 in back to back playoff games in rookie ball last year. Well he’s at it again. A threw a no-hitter yesterday in Short season ball against the Buies Creek Apostles, striking out 13.

2012 Hank Aaron Award winner Bill Hill (DAY) won his 8th career PotW award for Dayton. The 31 year old went 13-28 with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s last week. On the year he’s hitting .312-17-74.

Baltimore’s Mehpare Isfahani won the CL PotW award after his 12-31 6 HR 11 RBI week. Isfahani scored 12 runs as well.

IBL CG Career Leaders
1) Ernie Kelly (DAY) 27
2) Matthieu Cafasso (LV) 20
3) Chris O’Slattery (BAL) 19
4) Ruben Cruz (LA) 17
5) Marcos Diaz (COL) 16
ORG NEWS
Bakersfield OF Mike Brown took home the Primal League PotW with a 7-12 3 HR 12 RBI week. Brown is now at 282-12-58 in 84 games.

POWER RANKINGS
1) Philadelphia
2) El Paso
3) Sacramento
4) Los Angeles
5) Chicago

20) Phoenix
21) New York
22) Michigan
23) Fresno
24) New Hampshire

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WEEK 18
1 vs New Hampshire (37-68 34 GB CL East)
Off Day
3 @ Corpus Christi (43-63 21.5 GB CL Central)
2 @ Philadelphia (70-33 +10.5 CL East)

STUFF
Bill Alexander hasn’t homered in 13 days and is hitting .258-5-17 in July after a 307-14-32 June. Walt Thompson (BRO) has 9 10+ K games. He had 4 straight in April (13,10,11,10). He has 185 in 151.1 IP and is on pace to break his own IBL record of 278. Edmonton’s Greg McCain is hitting .478 in July (43-90) with 4 HR’s and 14 RBI’s to take over the FL batting race at .362. Philly is 70-33, going 18-10, 21-6, 16-11 and 15-6 in July and leads the Coastal League with 150 HR’s, 14 ahead of us in 2nd place.

GAME 106
Alejandrez (11-7) had another great outing 7-4-1-1-1-3 and the offense exploded for 19 hits and 12 runs. It was led by Massi Lorenzelli’s 4-5 3 runs 2 RBI’s and 2 doubles. Wes Morgan went 3-5 with 2 RBI’s, Bill Alexander went 3-4 with 2 runs and Eric Hudson went 3-4 and scored once and drove in 1. NH SP Jose Sanchez (0-7 4.66) went 5-10-3-3-3-4 before Chicago exploded for 8 runs in the 7th.
CHI 12 NH 2 (65-41 +9.5)

LEAGUE NEWS
Phoenix slugger Luis Rios went deep 3 times in a 10-9 win over West Michigan yesterday. Rios 3 HR’s put him at 296-21-52 on the year. The 33 year old now has 92 career HR’s in 375 games.

INJURY NEWS
Edmonton lost starting SS Tom Johnston for the next month after pulling a hamstring yesterday. The 32 year old is hitting 257-0-32 in 94 games this year.

Columbus All Star Dean Strong will miss he next 2 weeks with patellar tendonitis. Strong has 17 HR’s and 62 RBI’s so far this year.

GAME 107
Spike Davis makes his Iron Pigs debut today.

Davis went into the 7th tiring and was left in a hitter too long. He threw very well, not surrendering a hit until Martin Walley hit the first of 2 HR’s (22) in the 5th. Davis went 7-5-4-4-2-4. Jose Torres took the loss (4-4) after Walley hit his 2nd HR off him in the 8th. Massi Lorenzelli went 3-5 with 2 more doubles (25). Hugh Collins stole 2 bases (28) and Paul Riggs went 2-4, as did Wes Morgan.
CC 6 CHI 4 (65-42 +8.5)

INJURY NEWS
Houston’s Cy May will miss the next 2 weeks with a bad back that took him out 2 days ago. May is hitting 306-26-81 this year.

GAME 108
De La Torre (11-6) went 7.1-8-4-4-2-5 and Pennington (H12) got out of the 8th for Ernesto Cruz to pitch a perfect 9th for his 27th Save. Hugh Collins went 1-4 with his 23rd HR and Bill Alexander went 3-5 with an RBI. Paul Riggs went 2-3 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s after hitting his 2nd HR of the year. Edgar Rosa hit his 28th for CC. Cecil Watts fell to 7-13 5.91 after going 6.2-6-6-6-5-2.
CHI 7 CC 4 (66-42 +9.5)

JULY RECAP
Short Season announced their All Star Teams today: Heavener sent C Kenny Miller (338/405/423) and RF Mark Hill (321/402/481)

Luis Rios 3 HR day a few days back spurred him to July Player of the Month Honors for the Frontier League. Rios hit .323 with a .422 OBP while hitting 12 HR’s and driving in 26, he also scored 26 runs.

Hugh Collins took home Coastal League Player of the Month for July after he hit .413 with 11 HR’s and 29 RBI’s and scored 25 runs. He posted a .446 OBP as well.

Edmonton’s Pedro Quintero took home FL Pitcher of the Month for July after his 4-0 1.42 month. He K’d 28 in 32 innings over 5 starts.

Houston Closer Tom Conklin won the CL Pitcher of the Month for July after he went 3-0 with 5 Saves and a 0.55 ERA over 12 games, 16.1 IP, posting 17 K’s.

Catcher Jorge Ibarra of West Michigan won July Rookie of the Month for the FL after he hit .400 with 2 HR’s and 25 RBI’s. The 22 year old is hitting .303-8-73 in 94 games.

Baltimore’s Mehpare Isfahani won the CL’s Rookie of the Month for July with his .308-11-21 month. He scored 24 runs as well.

ORG NEWS
Jim Carter of Belleview won the MWL PotM award for July. The 22 year old hit .337 with a .417 OBP and had 7 HR’s 28 RBI’s 23 runs scored. For the year he is hitting .268-15-70.

Teammate Mike Hamilton won the MWL Pitcher of the Month after his 5-0 1.56 July. He struck out 45, limiting opponents to a .207 average in 40.1 IP.

[gehrig38]

A look back to June 1st, through today, first in the Frontier League.

Brooklyn remains in charge despite a 23-29 stretch. Mainly because Buffalo 21-31 and Staten Island 26-27 can't do much right. The Knights, well, 17-36 will bury ya.

Tulsa goes 32-20 while San Antonio goes 30-22 to switch places. West Michigan does the .500 thing and loses 5 games. Same with Daytona, who looks like they''be out of the post season for the first time.

El Paso almost mirrors their 33-20 start with a 33-21 next 54 to pull 4 games ahead as the River Cats drop to 25-28 after the strong start.

The WC is looking like a 2 team race unless one of the the teams trailing can get hot. Lots of injuries on those rosters.

But Brooklyn is looking to repeat, Tulsa is as well and Sacramento is trying to make it 3 West titles in a row. El Paso is trying to get their first post season appearance under their belt.

[gehrig38]

In the CL it starts and ends in Philly. A 32-20 run has grown the gap over a VERY good Baltimore team (they just crushed us) by a game. Baltimore has a FIRM grasp on the WC though. (We see Philly this next week).

We've gone 30-22 to keep a good Columbus club 9.5 back, and Houston, after a real good run, is starting to fade. Their 30-24 run was more front end heavy with the wins. Corpus Christi is rebuilding.

The hottest team over the past 2 months in the IBL is LA, going 38-15 to move from 4 back to a dominating 10.5 game lead in the West as Fresno has crashed and burned, going 15-38 to go from 1st to 19 out! Vegas went 22-28 to drop to .500 and about out of the race and Michigan is again a doormat.

The CL actually looks to be wrapped up division wise and the WC. Short of a major injury or two we should see Philly for a 3rd time, us again, LA and Baltimore.

[gehrig38]

GAME 109
A 16 inning pitchers duel. Mike Davis went 7.2-7-2-2-2-3 in his return and the pen combined to go 8.1-7-0-0-3-7 with Riley Potts winning (5-0) and Cruz notching his 38th Save. Ernesto Gutierrez tied the game with a 1 out HR (7) in the 9th. Hugh Collins broke the tie in the 16th with his 24th HR. Alexander hit his 37th HR and Wes Morgan went 3-6.
CHI 3 CC 2 (67-42 +9.5)

LEAGUE NEWS
Pittsburgh’s Vince Bray tossed a 5 hitter over Michigan to move to 13-2 3.04. He K’d 7.

Walt Thompson (BRO) moved to 14-3 2.92 with an 8-0 11K 4 hitter vs Edmonton.

GAME 110
Our first time seeing Philly since they swept us 6-1, 14-7 and 8-7 in June. They beat us 2 out of 3 in May as well and swept us in April to go 8-1 in our 9 meetings.. We draw O’Dell (13-3 3.33, Olson 12-7 3.50 and Hill 10-3 4.13) and we counter with Williams (10-4 4.91) Alejandrez (11-7 3.62) and Spike Davis 4-1 4.46.

Lost 10-6 but it was never a game. Roberto Flores hit 2 HR’s, a 3 run in the 1st and solo shot in the 8th. Game was 6-1 after 3, 8-1 after 4. Flores went 3-5 with 5 RBI’s and 2 HR’s (8) Dave Ladd hit his 25th in a 3-4 4 run day, and David Fleming hit his 6th in a 2-4 3 RBI day. O’Dell (14-3) gave up 3 in the 7th and ended with a 8.1-12-6-6-1-0. Mark Williams (10-5) went 3-9-7-5-2-1. Paul Riggs went 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and his 3rd HR, Massi Lorenzelli went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
PHI 10 CHI 6 (67-43 +9.5)

STUFF
Pittsburgh’s Gonzalo Casisas (16-7 3.55 in ’12 for Buffalo) went the distance on a 7-0 3 hitter in shutting out Fresno. Casisas moved to 6-9 4.62 on the season.

INJURY NEWS
The El Paso Diablos suffered a major blow today. Starting 2B Tony Ruiz (.323-9-38 in 75 games) will miss the remainder of the 2014 season with a ruptured tendon in his right hand.

ORG NEWS
Had an organizational wide meeting. Trying to devise a strategy and I have coaches who’s contracts are coming due. So I am making an offer to extend them, but with limited resources it’s going to be a challenge.

The guys I managed to extend.
Tulsa Pitching coach Flavio Leon for 3 years, 135 K. He’s done an amazing job with guys going down and improving, and that staff has done well. One of the better pitching heads in the game, and a future IBL Manager or pitching coach.

Belleview pitching coach Pedro Vasquez 2 years 125K. Another excellent pitching coach who handles young players VERY well. At 40K a year he was HORRIFFICALLY underpaid.

Heavener Sting pitching coach Marcos Hernandez. A 40 year old star in the making I hope. An excellent teacher of the craft, signed a 70K per year, 3 year extension.

Omaha Hitting Coach Scott Campbell. One of the games brightest minds when it comes to offense. A good fielding coach as well. He’ destined for the IBL but we snagged him for 3 more years at 110k, from his current 36k salary (another grossly underpaid overperformer).

Omaha Pitching coach Jake Lynch. A 38 year old who’s an excellent teacher. 2 years at 85K per.

GAME 111
Alejandrez (11-8) couldn’t hold this offense down either, 4-9-6-5-4-4 in the loss. Hugh Collins had us up 1-0 before anyone sat down with the 1st of 2 solo HR’s today (26). But Carlos Arredondo (36) kept his strong 2014 campaign rolling and Steve Whiteway (14-4 4.21) pitched just well enough to win 5.1-9-4-4-3-3. Jose Torres came out of the Iron Pig pen with a huge assist, going 4-2-0-0-0-5 to save the arms. Collins went 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Morgan, Riggs and Chartier had 2 hit days.
PHI 6 CHI 4 ( 67-44 +9.5)

WEEK 18 RECAP AND STUFF
Jean Chartier was slapped with a 3 game suspension after being ejected for arguing a called third yesterday.

Michigan got a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak year. 26 year old SP Enrique Yan tossed a 5 hitter to beat Columbus 4-0. The win moved him to 4-15 6.15 on the year.

Tulsa continued to thrive, 28 year old SP Esteban Valdez went to 6-8 4.23 after his 8-0 3 hitter over Buffalo. Yan punched out 10 to give him 133 in 149 IP over 22 starts. Yan was 13-10 in ’12 and 13-11 last season.

And Vincente Romero made it three. The 27 year old Sacramento righty threw a 2 hitter in Staten Island in a 5-0 win to win his 10th game (10-8 3.60).

Greyhound OF Luis Rios continues to thrive. Fresh off his July FL PotM award he took home FL PotW honors this week. The 33 year old went 8-21 with 5 HR’s and 8 RBI’s this week to give him a line of 296-23-56 on the year.

Riverhounds OF Manuel Miranda won the CL PotW Award for his 8-19 6 HR 12 RBI week.

TOP SAVE SEASONS IBL
Ernesto Cruz (CHI) 48
Bill Barlow (DAY) 47
Greg Patterson (BRO) 47
Sherwood Jacobs (MIC) 46
Julio Gonzalez (LA) 44

POWER RANKINGS
1) Philly
2) Los Angeles
3) El Paso
4) Tulsa
5) Chicago

Bottom 5
20) Dayton
21) Michigan
22) New Hampshire
23) New York
24) Corpus Christi

ORG NEWS
Bakersfield Pitching Coach Bill Steward agreed to a 3 year 120K a year extension.

I inked Belleview manager Ian Murray to a 4 year 310K a year extension. A huge number for a guy in A ball but Murray, at 46, is going to manage in the IBL someday and he’s an amazing handler of players and his clubhouse in addition to being a good hitting guy and an outstanding fielding coach.

Heavener Sting Hitting Coach Chuck Richardson agreed to a 3 year 85K per year extension.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 20
1 @ Philadelphia (74-36 +11 CL East)
Off Day
3 @ Los Angeles (67-45 +11.5 CL West)
2 @ Fresno (46-64 20 GB CL West)

Heading to the home stretch and it’s clear we are not in the discussion for best IBL teams. Both Baltimore and now Philly are just abusing us, and we roll into LA after the off day. (BTW, if you wanted to add some SICK realism (read that as “Feature Creep”) you could and would be valid in doing so, have some players or teams take a hit traveling East to West 3 time zones, when there is no off day. You could also send your SP ahead for long trips to make sure they’re rested. This is on a scale I can’t even describe, the best baseball simulation ever created with nothing in any sport even coming close, and those ‘little things’ are why.

If either Columbus or Houston has plans to make this a race now was and is the time. BTW we are playing without the current Coastal League’s best hitter (Chartier is up on Thomas Hood .344 to .341)

GAME 112
Spike Davis battled his ass off (4-2) but it wasn’t enough. He went 6-9-3-3-2-4 but was outpitched by Dan Hill (11-3) who went 6-3-1-1-3-6. Julio Arroyo (SV 35) nailed it down. Victor Pittman 2-3 a run and 3 RBI’s provided the entire Freedom offense out of the 9 hole with a double and solo HR (3). Eric Hudson went 2-4 with his 9th HR, a solo shot in the 1st to put us up 1-0.
PHI 3 CHI 1 (67-45 +8.5) Philly sweeps us again and goes 11-1 on the year against us…..

GAME 113
Carlos De La Torre (12-6) is outstanding, taking a shutout into the 9th (8.1-9-0-0-0-5) and Ernesto Cruz gives up a hit but records the final 2 outs for his 29th Save. Alexander and Gutierrez drive in Chicago’s runs. Sky Sox SP Tommy Hobbs (8-11 3.27) throws a CG 5 hitter (9-5-2-2-1-5) in the loss.
CHI 2 LA 0 (68-45 +)

STUFF
New York Knights fans at least have Jose Lopez. The 30 year old OF became the 1st IBL player to ever homer 3 times in a game, twice, when he went 3-3 with 8 RBI’s in a 12-1 win over West Michigan yesterday. Lopez is hitting .308-27-94 on the season. Lopez hit 3 HR’s in a game in April of this year versus Brooklyn, driving in 7 in that one.

Sacramento OF Barry Meyer (323-3-19) will have his return pushed back 3 more weeks the team learned yesterday. His fractured Rib is not healing as expected.

GAME 114
Mike Davis turned in another gem for Chicago starters. Going 7.1-1-0-0-6-5 he handed a 2-0 game to the pen. Ryan Pennington immediately caused problems with back to back 2B’s and Jose Pacheco (H18) Jose Torres (H10) got the ball to Ernesto Cruz. The world is right when that happens, but not today. Chandler arris hit a leadoff HR (just his 2nd) in the 9th to knot it up and 3 innings later Feliz Torres singled in Eric Jackson for the Sky Sox walk off win. Hugh Collins homered (27) and stole his 29th base in his quest to become, I believe, the first ever IBL 30/30 player. Eric Hudson threw out 3 of 5 LA base stealers. Nick Johnston went 7-8-2-2-0-8 in the start for LA.
LA 3 CHI 2 (68-46 ++8)

LEAGUE STUFF
New Yorks Mathew Moore has 3 days left on his rehab at AAA Crossville, but his 3 homer game there yesterday was, I think, a call to the parent team announcing that he’s ready…

ORG STUFF
We inked Bakersfield Hitting Coach Martin Castaneda to a 3 year 105K extension. A hefty raise from his 36K a year, but antoher guy we know we’ll lose if we don’t pay. Always known for his excellent teaching skills with hitters and as a former slick fielding SS he’s an outstanding teacher of defense as well.

GAME 115
Young Randy Pennington is lightly penciled in as the one day Chicago Iron Pigs Closer. Today he got a jump start on the education. With Ernesto Cruz unavailable Pennington was called on in the 8th after a Felix Torres double put runners at 2nd and 3rd in a 6-5 game. He promptly struck out Pat Adams to retire the side. After a quick 2 outs in the 9th he walked Chandler Harris and a Ernesto Gutierrez error on Eric Jacksons single put runners at 2nd and 3rd again. He got Charlie Crowder to pop out to end the inning, and the game for his 2nd save. Paul Riggs, Bill Alexander and Massi Lorenzelli had 2 hit days with Alexander driving in 2. Hugh Collins stole 2 bases to give him 31 on the year and Raul Feliz tripled and stole a base (19). Jose Pacheco got the win to move to 4-0.
CHI 6 LA 5 (69-46 +8.5)

GAME 116
Bill Alexander woke up! He went 3-5 with a double and his 38th HR and 2 RBI’s and Ernesto Gutierrez had 3 hits with a run and an RBI. Alfredo Alejandrez (12-8) continued his resurgence going 7.2-6-2-2-3-4 for the win and Ernesto Cruz got the final 4 outs for his 30th Save. Rich Stone went 3-4 in the loss.
CHI 4 FRE 2 (70-46 +8.5)

GAME 117
Spike Davis (5-2) goes 7-7-2-2-1-0 ad van Bodegraven (H7) gets to Ernesto for his 31st Save. Cruz is likely to get a day or two off as he’s pitching a ton and his history is one of precarious health issues. Massi Lorenzelli was the offense today, 2-4 with a double and his 4th HR, driving in 3 and scoring 2. Jean Chartier pounded his 23rd HR. Raul Feliz went 3-5 and scored a run. Qi-chen Jung hit his 19th HR off Sib in the 8th.
CHI 5 FRE 3 (71-46 +9.5)

WEEK 20 RECAP
Railcat rookie Mehpare Isfahani went 5-5 with 5 RBI’s in a 14-2 Baltimore win over Columbus. Between AAA and the IBL Isfahani has homered 37 times this year! He’s hitting 313-24-64 in 70 IBL games.

A month ago today Jose Lopez won his first FL PotW award, today he made it 2 in 2 months. The 30 year old went 13-23 with 6 HR’s and 15 RBI’s last week to put his season totals at 311-27-96.

Baltimore appears to have no bottom to their lineup. 33 year old OF Jesus Acevedo went 11-25 with 3 HR’s and 10 RBI’s to win the CL PotW. On the year Acevedo is hitting 317-18-85.

Las Vegas prospect Jorge Gonzales is tearing up AA Richmond since his call up. He’s 14-32 in 8 games and the IBL’s #10 prospect is close to being an impact OF already.

INJURY NEWS
Las Vegas will be without CF Thomas Hood for the next, crucial, 2-3 weeks after his back issue flared up. Vegas is 59-56, 8.5 GB of LA, and 6.5 back in the wild card chase.

The 51’s are also without 1B Drew Leduc for at least 4 more days as his hammy is not responding. He’s missed the past two weeks trying to recover.

Top 5 IBL Hitters in August
Barton Roberts (WMI) .457
Jose Lopez (NY) .452
Antonio Santana (COL) .452
Luis Rios (PHX) .429
Jesus Acevedo (BAL) .421

Power Rankings
1) Philadelphia
2) Chicago
3) El Paso
4) Tulsa
5) Los Angeles

Bottom 5
20) New York
21) Buffalo
22) Phoenix
23) Michigan
24) Corpus Christi

[gehrig38]

Philly has opened the CL East to 12 games, that one's over. Columbus has gotten to within 5 of the Wild Card which is the only race left imo, in the CL. We are up 9.5, LA is up 8.5 over Vegas.

In the FL Brooklyn is 3.5 up on Staten Island in the East.

Tulsa is 4.5 up on San Antonio in the Central.

El Paso is 4.5 up on Sacramento.

Sacramento leads the WC by 2 over San Antonio, 5 on West Michigan.

Jean Chartier is the CL batting leader at .339, 3 pts better than LA's Vince Soto and 5 better than Vegas 51's Thomas Hood.

Alexander is tied with Arredondo at 38 HR's, leading the IBL by 1 over Jason White (SAC). Alexander is also leading the IBL with 111 RBI's, 3 better than Randy Boyd (BAL).

Hugh Collins (1) and Jean Chartier (2) are leading CL hitters in WAR, at 5.6 and 5.5, Tulsa's Curt Whimster is way up on the IBL with a WAR of 8.0.

Joel Downs (TUL) Chris O'Slattery (BAL) and Steve Whiteway (PHI) are the only 15 game winners thus far, with Bray (PIT) and Thompson (BRO) at 14.

Thompson is running away with the IBL K crown, again, at 204, O'Slattery is 2nd, 28 behind.

Bean (SAC) continues to pace the ERA race at 2.50, with Downs (TUL) at 2.65 and Thompson at 2.84.

O'Slattery and Bray are the only 2 qualifiers in the CL under 3.00, with 2.93 and 2.96 respectively.

Julio Arroyo (PHI) is 5 up on Cruz with 36 Saves.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 21
1 @ Fresno
3 vs Las Vegas
Off Day
2 vs Pittsburgh

GAME 118
Carlos De La Torre (13-6) keeps the strong run of starts going (8-5-3-3-2-3) and Pennington (H14) gets a big out to get Cruz in for the last 2, for his 32nd Save. I SWEAR he’s not pitching for 2 days. Antonio Espinoza (7-6 5.40) went 7.2-10-4-4-2-1 for the loss. Paul Riggs went 3-5, Wes Morgan hit his 21st HR in a 2-4 day. Jean Chartier went 2-4 and stole his 24th (along with Hugh Collins he’s making a 30-30 bid. He’s at 23 HR’s and 24 SB). Eric Hudson went 2-4 and drove in a run. Chicago turned 3 DP’s.
CHI 4 FRE 3 (72-46 +9.5)

LEAGUE NEWS
The Knights already dismal season got worse as slugger Mathew Moore, just off rehab, went down again for 2-3 more weeks with a bad shoulder.

TRADE NEWS
Buffalo shipped 25 year old IF Pedro Calderon to Columbus for former Iron Pig 3B Sean Parker. Calderon was hitting 270-2-0 in limited action and Parker was hitting 266/321/421 in 85 games.

GAME 119
Mike Davis (2-1) went 7 strong innings (7-7-1-0-2-3) and Riley Potts (H4) Jose Sanchez (H1) got the ball to Jose Pacheco who got the final 2 outs for his 3rd Save. Bill Alexander went 3-4 with 2 RBI’s to pace the Chicago offense. Marshall Wall (13-7 4.65) went the distance in the loss (8-10-4-4-2-3).
CHI 4 LV 1 (73-46 +10)

INJURY NEWS
Lando Jongmans could be out as long as 5 weeks after suffering a sprained ankle running the bases yesterday. The 23 year old SS is hitting 284-14-62 in 87 games this year and is a major piece of the 67-51 Railcats lineup. This injury comes on the heels of starting SS Manuel Cantu’s season ending broken leg suffered on July 13th. Carlos Parra will slide over to short for the rest of the season.

LEAGUE NEWS
In the same game, Baltimore slugger Juan Torres slammed 3 home runs, and drove in 7, in a 10-1 win over Corpus Christi. The 24 year old is hitting 287-21-52 in 72 games this year and has slammed 92 HR’s and driven in 248 runs in the past 3 seasons.

GAME 120
Mark Williams (11-5) battled into the 6th (5.2-7-3-3-2-3) and van Bodgraven (H8) and Torres (H11) got the ball into Jose Pacheco’s hands for the 9th, where he managed his 4th save. Wes Morgans’s 3R HR (22) was part of a 2-4 day and Raul Feliz went 2-3 scoring and driving in one, he also stole his 20th base. Vegas SP Ralph White (13-9) took the loss in 4.1-8-5-5-1-0.
CHI 5 LV 3 (74-46 +10)

STUFF
We’re hitting our stride now. After game 120, 42 left and we are 3rd in runs, 1st in Avg, 1st in OBP, 2nd in HR’s, 4th in SB, 4th in Runs Against, 7th in Starters ERA (up 4 spots) and 1st in Bullpen ERA and 3rd in Def Eff.

1st Rounder Anthony Martin is off the DL. (FWIW the one thing I don’t see really ever improving and maybe I miss it, is control. And of all things the game tracks, to me anyway, that should be the number that changes more than any number in the game. It’s by far the most raw talent, and the one that changes more than any other single thing for a pitcher over his career. To me, again, that would add ENORMOUS realism, even more than it already has, to the game. Control is the one place I’ve always felt the game might be ‘wrong’, in that a guy, is he’s a 7 of 20, is almost always within a pt of that, no matter how he matures. Movement is and should be the most rigid #. The ONLY way that would change for a starter is to go from/to a 4 seamer to 2 seamer, or vice versa. Velocity, I feel, the game does a GREAT job or replicating ‘growth’ on.


GAME 121
Alejandrez draws Matthieu Cafasso, former Vegas ace in the midst of a tough season.

Alejandrez (13-8) is in charge (7-4-0-0-1-8) and Cafasso (3-4 5.79) is not (5.1-9-7-6-2-1). Leon Russell goes 2-4 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI’s and his 2nd SB and Jean Chartier goes 2-4. Hugh Collins scores 2 in a 2-3 game.
CHI 7 LV 2 (75-46 +11)

LEAGUE NEWS
Philly 3B Kevin Peters went 5-6 and drove in 6 in a 13-4 win over New Hampshire today. Peters is having his best season at 312-20-78.

OFF DAY NEWS
Houston lost reliever Michael Ross for the next 6 months after it was learned he fractured his coracoid. Ross was 3-1 1 SV 2.70 ERA in 46 games this season. He had saved 72 games in the past 2 years before moving to a setup role. The 37 year old is said to be contemplating ending his career rather than rehabbing from the surgery.

ORG NEWS
Andrew Martin (Acquires from Columbus in the Sean Parker trade 5/20/13) will miss the next 10 months after tearing his PCL. The 3B/SS was hitting 255/305/429 in 37 games at AAA Tulsa.

GAME 122
Spike Davis didn’t have it, neither did Pittsburgh SP Ernie Hobbs, but the pens did. Sib van Bodegraven was the only blip in a bullpen that ran out a 11-8-2-2-2-12 line in a 13 inning walk off win. Jose Torres won it with 2 scoreless (5-4). Hugh Collins took a few more steps to becoming a 30/30 player, going 2-5 with 4 runs scored, his 28th HR and 33rd SB. Bill Alexander won the game with a 13th inning single as part of a 3-7 3 RBI day. Raul Feliz doubled in a 3-5 day and Eric Hudson caught all 13 going 2-5. Pittsburgh hit 8 doubles, including a club record 3 by Ben Hutchins.
CHI 10 PIT 9 (76-46 +11.5)

LEAGUE NEWS
Raul Gonzalez, in the midst of the same down year as his 2 time world champion team, tossed a 2 hitter over the IBL’s best team, Philadelphia. Gonzo moved to 7-7 3.78 on the season.

GAME 123
Catching Pittsburgh Ace Vince Bray again. He’s 14-3 3.13 with 172 punch outs. In three starts this year he’s gone 2-0 in 24 IP he’s got a 3.75 ERA with 21K’s and 5 walks.

Bray was bad, but so was De La Torre. Both starters failed to get through the 5th but Pittsburghs pen was better. Riley Potts (5-1) was the loser. 5 more doubles for the Riverhound offense plated 8 runs and the Iron Pigs couldn’t get that elusive one more. Jean Chartier went 2-4 scoring 2 and driving in 2 with his 24th HR and 25th SB as he continued, with teammate Hugh Collins, on his 30/30 quest. Bill Alexander hit his 39th HR. Hugh Collins stole his 34th.
PIT 8 CHI 7 (70-47 +10.5)

WEEK 21 RECAP

Houston’s Millard O’Reilly went 5-6 in a 12-6 drubbing, again!, of Philadelphia. O’Reillys day featured 3 doubles as well and the 30 year old is hitting 310-21-88 on the year.

Buffalo Bison Catcher Marvin Frean won the FL PotW award after he went 10-22 with 4HR’s and 8 RBI’s. The 26 year old is hitting 306-9-26 in 32 games.

LA Sky Sox 2B Eric Jackson went 10-25 with 4 HR’s and 11 RBI’s to win CL PotW. Jackson is hitting 308-11-80 in 120 games.

IBL Leaders in Walks
Mario Orosco (SI) 98
Thomas Hood (LV) 93
Tom Johnston (ED) 92
Mark Doyle (CC) 86
Curt Whimster (TUL) 86

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (our first time here I think!)
2) Baltimore
3) Philadelphia (They got pounded this wek)
4) Los Angeles
5) Tulsa

Bottom 5
20) New York
21) New Hampshire
22) Phoenix
23) Corpus Christi
24) Michigan

[gehrig38]

A peek at the races. In the East it feels like, short of a monumental collapse somewhere, every race is over but the wild card, and that's a tough hill for Columbus to climb not because of the deficit as much as just how good that Railcat team really is.

In the west all four races are looking to be interesting. The West is looking for a new Champ, and Sacramento will have a challenge in trying to win it for the 3rd year in a row. The Wild Card looks like it could be fun, especially if Edmonton heats up.

In the stat races it's going to be exciting. McCain has caught fire to take the batting lead in the FL. White and Maitani will battle it out for the HR chase.

Tight in the RBI race as well.

The only pitching race NOT in question is K's, where Walt Thompson will again lap the field. The only question is can he reach 300?

In teh CL the batting race is going to be fun, as we have another contender from Chicago in it this year with Chartier coming into his own at 20.

Arredondo has been hot all year long, and now leads Alexander by 2.

The RBI race is close as well.

Arroyo took a hold of the saves race with Philly insane run, but everything else is pretty tight. O'Slattery looks to be the odds on for the '14 Koufax award.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 22
Ignacio Ferrer and Paul Riggs were hurt in yesterdays game, Riggs is fine, nothing to report but Ignacio is not and we’re awaiting word.

But with no backup IF I cannot wait so I need to put him on the DL, and will call up Alejandro Sotolo.

There needs to be some more ‘call outs’ for achievements. If you are following along you know I am watching both Collins and Chartiers quest to be 30/30 guys (which, before steroids, and now after is a HUGE deal imo) I had to track back through season bests to check each player that had 30+ steals, to see if it hadn’t been done before.

Alberto Vargas of Buffalo, in 2012, didn’t do 30/30, he did 40/40!!!! And to think I had missed it, that sucks. At 27 he’s a HUGE force, but in 2012 he went 48 HR’s and 43 SB’s! Wow…

He’s the only one. McCabe (NH) went 21-32 one year, Torres (LA, who has a shot to be that kind of player) had a 20-42 season. Hugh Collins had a 29/27 season last year and is 28/34 this year. Kevin Moore (NH) went 28/52. It’s definitely an accomplishment that should be noted in accomplishments depending on your stat settings. It’s a big deal in this league.

Btw I had noticed, and looking through this list it was confirmed, New Hampshire has sucked, but damn man they run, and run, and run. 222 SB’s in BOTH ’12 and ’13, and they’re at 163 this year. I noticed because when playing them it seems every baserunner is an 18 runner or so. I LOVE that the game handles it’s teams like that, trying to be fast, hit for power, or pitch, whatever, that’s just awesome.


1 vs Pittsburgh
3 @ Michigan
Off Day
2 @ New Hampshire

GAME 124
Was nice to see old friend Craig Frank, especially when Wes Morgans 2nd HR of the game came off of him in the 8th is to win it. Morgan went 2-5 with 4 RBI’s and 2 HR’s (24) and Bill Alexander hit 40 HR’s for the 3rd straight year with his solo shot in the 3rd. Raul Feliz went 1-3 with his 6th HR. Hugh Collins stole his 35th base. Mike Davis went 7.1-6-4-4-0-10 in a strong start and a continuation of his regaining his 2012 self. Sib van Bodgraven won it (4-3) and Cruz notched his 33rd Save.
CHI 7 PIT 4 (77-47 +10.5)

MINORS STUFF
I mention Houston Rookie league prospect Manuel Villanueva’s 6 hit day only because he went 6 for, get ready, 11! They were apparently in some other dimension, playing to a 16-15 win in 20 innings….



GAME 125
Beaten by a team that had no business on the field with us. Mark Williams (11-6) gave up a solo shot in the first, and fourth, and the backbreaking 3R HR to Jamie Vance in the 4th (3) to drop a 6-3 game to the Battlecats. Enrique Yan (6-16) pitched just well enough to win (5.1-6-3-3-5-5) and Sherwood Jacobs saved his 17th. Chicago managed jus 7 singles, with Wes Morgan’s 2-4 as the only 2 hit night. Chartier stole 2 bases (27) and Lorenzelli stole his 9th.
MICH 6 CHI 3 (77-48 +10.5)

INJURY NEWS
Ferrer has a torn thumb ligament, and will miss the next 5 weeks. With Sotolo only being able to play 2nd well, and being left handed, I am unsure of what to do, but I need someone more versatile. Both super utility guys Melvin Watson and Andrew Martin are on the DL for extended periods.

New Hampshire lost CF Ricardo Estrada for the rest of the year to a broken kneecap. The 25 year old was hitting 286-0-20 in 61 games with 17 SB’s. The Fisher Cats 23rd pick in the 2012 inaugural draft will be ready for camp in 2015.

GAME 126
That’s more like it. Alejandrez (14-8 3.49) is back to being the ace. He went 7-2-1-1-2-4. Chicago hit 5 HR’s. Hugh Collins hit his 29th in a 2-4 2 run day, Wes Morgan his 25th in a 1-5 day, Massi Lorenzelli his 5th in a 2-5 day, Leon Russell his 2nd in a 1-3 day and Rafael Flores his 2nd in 1-4 day. Bill Alexander DIDN’T homer, but he did go 3-4 with 2 RBI’s. Jean Chartier went 2-4 with his 28th stolen base. Michigan had just 2 hits with Bob Herman’s 30th HR being one of them.
CHI 10 MICH 1 (78-48 +11.5)

STUFF
Philly’s Carlos Arredondo has homered in 3 straight games to take a 44-40 lead over Alexander.

Chris O’Slattery moved to 17 wins, IBL tops, and his 193 K’s and 2.87 ERA are all tops in the Coastal League.

ORG NEWS
25 year old Mike White moved to 12-3 3.60 for AA Bakersfield after his 7-0 2 hitter today.

GAME 127
Bill Alexanders 41st HR, a 3 run shot in the 9th, turned a 3-2 lead into an easy win. Alexander went 2-5 with 4 RBI’s and Jean Chartier was 3-5 and scored twice. Riggs, Hudson, Morgan and Lorenzelli all had 2 hit days with Riggs driving in 2. Spike Davs (6-2) tossed 6 scoreless (6-2-0-0-3-6) and Jose Pacheco notched his 5th Save. Al Stroud (7-13) went 8-10-3-3-4-3.
CHI 6 MICH 2 (79-48 +11.5)

MINORS
West Michigan White Caps 2012 #1 pick Matt Potter (IBL #84 this year, #65 in ’13) tossed his 2nd No Hitter in 2 years today. In 2 stops this year he is 3-4 with 34 hits allowed in 67.2 IP, 92 K’s and 31 walks.

GAME 128
In the midst of this horrific season a lone bright spot for New Hampshire has been Roberto Salazar. The 24 year old SP is 13-10 4.43 in 25 starts over 146.1 IP. He was the 10th pick in the inaugural draft and the #10 IBL prospect in 2012. Made the 2014 All Star team.

De La Torres (14-6) was cruising into the 7th when he loaded the bases, Smith decided to give him one more hitter and James Snyder’s 3 run triple turned a great outing into a not so great one (6.2-9-5-4-3-3). Riley Potts gave up 2 more and made the game close, needing Ernesto Cruz to enter in the 9th and get the final 2 outs for his 34th save. Bill Alexander hit 2 3R Home Runs (43) in a 2-4 6 RBI day. Eric Hudson went 2-5 and Jean Chartier went 2-3 with 3 runs scored and stole his 29th base. Enrique Franco hit his 2nd HR. All Star Roberto Salazar (13-11) was pounded for 6 runs on 5 hits in 2.1 IP.
CHI 9 NH 7 (80-48 +11)

LEAGUE STUFF
Former Iron Pig Jorge Diaz was suspended 7 games today. The 30 year old RF has helped Philly to an IBL best 84-44 record and his hitting 266-12-45 in 77 games this year. Diaz hit 269/346/415 in 134 games last season and has 33 2B’s, 2 3B’s 54 HR’s and 187 RBI’s in 283 games since being traded from Chicago.

INJURY NEWS
The Buffalo Bisons have fouht hard to hang in the race and with Brooklyn falling to 62-66 and Staten Island now leading the division the Bisons are, at 57-71 still 5.5 games out. So the news that their leading hitter and table setter Mike Harris will miss the next 5-6 weeks came as a blow. The 39 year old hurt his arm turning a double play and has severe biceps tendonitis. He was hitting 312-14-46 in 105 games.

GAME 129
Hugh Collins became just the 2nd player in the IBL’s short 3 year existence to join the exclusive 30/30 club. The 25 year old CF hit a 2 run HR in the 3rd inning for his 30th HR of the season, to go with 36 SB’s, joing Buffalo Bison star Alberto Vargas (who was the 1st and only member of the 30/30 until today and is STILL the only member of the 40/40 club when he hit 48 HR’s and stole 43 bases in 2012). Collins finished the day 2-3 with 2 RBI’s and 2 SB’s (36). Wes Morgan went 2-2 with 3 walks, Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s and Massi Lorenzelli went 1-3 with 2 runs and his 10th SB. Mike Davis (3-1) continued his very strong return with a 7-6-1-1-2-3 outing. But all was not good news…
CHI 8 NH 1 (81-48 +12)

INJURY STUFF
Jean Chartier left the game with an undisclosed injury and he’s, no word on what or how long…..

WEEK 22 RECAP

INJURY NEWS
A rash of minor league injuries as the season winds down. A kid I traded for as a potential top of the rotation arm, who hasn’t really panned out, Jacob Nelson is out for the next year with elbow surgery.

San Antonio’s Ed Thomas took home the FL PotW award. He went 11-19 with 3 HR’s and 12 RBI’s last week.

Bill Alexander won his 5th Player of the Week award after going 11-22 with 5 HR’s and 14 RBI’s.

CAREER HITS LEADERS IN THE IBL
Kevin Moore (NH) 578
Bill Alexander (CHI) 555
Rich Stone (FRE) 552
Gregory McCain (EDM) 548
Curt Whimster (TUL) 539

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago
2) Philadelphia
3) Tulsa
4) Baltimore
5) El Paso

Bottom 5
20) Phoenix
21) New York
22) Corpus Christi
23) Michigan
24) New Hampshire

We are a week away from September, when I’ll catch you up on the races everywhere. But for the time being:

Brooklyn is .5 up on Staten Island in the FL East, 6 on Buffalo at 63-66. Tulsa has gone to 3.5 up on San Antonio at 76-53. 7 up on West Michigan. El Paso is still 6 up on Sacramento. San Antonio is still 2 up in the WC.

In the CL, Philly is 8.5 up on Baltimore. We are 12 up on Columbus, Houston has tanked and will miss the playoffs, falling to 63-65, 17.5 out in the division, 12 out of the wild card. LA is 12 up in the West and Baltimore gained another .5 game in the WC at 75-53, over Columbus.

Chartier leads the CL batting race by 6 pts now but was hurt yesterday and we don’t know how bad. That would be a HUGE blow. Arredondo is 4 HR’s up on Alexander at 47-43. Alexander is 13 RBi’s up on Henry Wilson of LA. Collins and Chartier are tied in WAR at 6.4.

O’Slattery in the CL, Downs (TUL) in the FL, have 17 wins.

Thompson has 227 K’s, Bray is 2nd at 194 for the IBL crown. Bean 2.65 and O’Slattery 2.87 lead in ERA

[gehrig38]

WEEK 23
1 @ New Hampshire (49-81 35.5 GB CL East)
3 @ Houston (63-65 17.5 GB CL Central)
3 vs Columbus (69-60 12 GB CL Central)

GAME 130
Mark Williams goes 8-6-2-2-3-2 against Colin Botts 7-7-2-2-4-7 and the game goes to the 10th in a 2-2 tie. Alexander and Morgan walk to start the inning, Gutierrez singles to load the bases. Hudson K’s and Raul Feliz singles in Alexander. Franco singles in another, Sotolo singles in 2 and Chicago goes on to win 6-2. Riggs went 2-6 with 2 RBI’s. Gutierrez goes 2-4, Feliz 3-5 with 2 runs and an RBI and Sotolo 1-2 with 2 RBI’s after coming in for Lorenzelli in the 9th. Kevin Moore goes 3-3 with 2 walks in the loss. Sib van Bodegraven wins it with 2 scoreless (5-3).
CHI 6 NH 2 (82-48 +12)

LEAGUE NEWS
Drawing the Baltimore Railcats isn’t a pleasure for CL SP. But LA’s Rafael Garza, in the midst of his best year yet (14-6 3.29) made it look easy. Throwing the IBL’s 3rd ever no-hitter in a 9-1 win. Garza struck out 6 and didn’t have a walk.

Thankfully Chartier is just banged up and has back spasms, and will be DtD for the next week so I’ll use him sparingly, and as a late inning defensive replacement or bat. Tulsa is out of the race so I’ll hopefully be able to bring a few guys up to lighten the load, except for the two defensive guys I have down there are on the DL, and Martin’s out at least 9 more months.

GAME 131
Alejandrez (15-8) would have won pretty much any day after his 8-5-1-1-0-10 start. But when the offense gets 19 hits it’s pretty much a lock. Every starter had at least 1 hit, with 8 guys having 2 or more led by Leon Russell’s 3-5 2 runs, and Alejando Sotolo’s 3-5 2 run 3 RBI day with a triple and HR (4). Massi Lorenzelli drove in 3 in a 2-4 day with his 34th double and Hugh Collins drove in 2 with 2 singles.
CHI 12 HOU 1 (83-48 +13)

LEAGUE NEWS
Angel Serrano went to 8-10 4.21 in 26 starts after his 2 hit shutout of Edmonton yesterday. The win kept the River Cats 1 game back of San Antonio in the wild card.

INJURY NEWS
New York Knights 23 year old Taylor Eldridge will be out for the remainder of the 2014 season with shoulder issues. He’ll have exploratory surgery today and if all goe well be ready for spring. He’s appeard in 89 games the past 2 seasons going 6-6 with 3 Saves and a 4.47 ERA.

Wes Morgan is now banged up as well. He suffered from heat exhaustion and we’ll tread carefully over the next 3 days, and pray Septemeber gets here fast.

GAME 132
Up against our old friend Raul Gonzalez today. 7-7 3.83 in 18 starts and battling through some injuries after going 41-20 the past 2 years.

He was his old self today, and Spike Davis was with him frame for frame until Gus Case hit a 2 out 3 run shot in the 6th. Davis went 7-6-4-3-3-3-2 to fall to 6-3 and Gonzalez went 8-4-2-2-2-3 to go to 8-7 3.73. Tom Conklin had a perfect 9th for his 28th Save. Hugh Collins hit his 31st HR in the 8th as Chicago was hung on just 4 hits.
HOU 4 CHI 2 (83-49 +12)

GAME 133
A hitter too late. That’s when Carlos De La Torre (14-7) came out. Leonard Sizemore’s 7th inning HR (6) broke a 2-2 tie as he went (7-4-4-4-1-7). Sergio De La Garza (11-11 4.04) went 7.1-11-2-2-1-4 for the win and Jose Torres saved his 2nd. Bill Alexander went 4-4 with 2 doubles (22) and his 44th HR. Jean Chartier gritted it out to go 2-4 and steal his 30th base.
HOU 4 CHI 2 (83-50 +11)

LEAGUE NEWS
Pittsburgh’s Vince Bray won his 16th game after he tossd a 2 hit 7 K shut out over New Hampshire today. Bray is 16-3 3.03 with 194 punch outs and 24 walks in 216.2 IP. Bray missed the entire 2013 season after going 14-9 3.71 with 229 K’s in 2012.

GAME 134
Mike Davis cruised into 5th of a 1-1 game. After the 5th it was still 1-1, but he wasn’t cruising, he was limping. A severe hamstring straing covering first will sideline the right hander, again, for 2 months….
Riley Potts (6-1) took over and Jose Sanchez closed it out for his first IBL save. Marcos Diaz (6-9 4.36) went the distance in a 5-1 loss (8-10-5-5-5-7). Massi Lorenzelli led Chicago’s 10 hit attack with a 3-4 3 run day, hitting his 6th HR. Paul Riggs was 2-3, Raul Feliz was 2-3 as well and drove in 2. Hugh Collins doubled and stole his 37th base.
CHI 5 COL 1 (84-50 +12)

STUFF
Davis was put on the 15 day DL. Fred Huff (acquired from Pittsburgh in the Craig Frank trade) was called up as we won’t need Bentley or another starter for a few days and our IF is thin.

GAME 135
Mark Williams (12-6) went 6-5-1-1-1-6 for the win and the offense pounded Will Cannon (13-10 4.29) for 7 runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings. Wes Morgan went 3-3 with 2 runs and a double and his 26th HR, Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-3 with an RBI and Hugh Collins (32) Raul Feliz (7) and Bill Alexander (45) hit HR’s. Chicago stole 4 bases as well (Collins 38, Gutierrez 16 and Feliz stole 2 for 23).
CHI 7 COL 1 (85-50 +13)

GAME 136
I kept wanting to pull Alejandrez, and kept not doing it, right up until it was too late. He went 6.1-7-5-5-4-6 to fall to 15-9 3.52. Clipper SP Sherman Mitchell went 8-10-5-5-2-2 to go to 11-11 5.05, and Ivan Lopez had a perfect 9th for his 33rd Save. Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on his 8th HR and Alejandro Sotolo went 2-4 hitting his 5th. Massi Lorenzelli went 2-4 as well.

HUGE WEEK 23 AND AUGUST UPDATE!
Lots of news, lots of info as the season enters it’s final month. I’ll give the news and then the standings and races in the follow on.

Curt Whimster (TUL) took home FL Player of the Week honors after his 11-28 5 HR 11 RBI run. He’s hitting .344-37-105 on the season and has led Tulsa to it’s 4.5 game FL Central lead at 82-54.

Michigan has little to be happy about but Bob Herman is one of the things. His 13-26 week with 4 HR’s and 9 RBI’s got him CL PotW honors. The 32 year old is hitting 270-34-93. He has 104 HR’s and 290 RBI’s in 404 games.

IBL Career Leaders in WHIP
Joe Boswell (PIT) 0.86
Ernesto Cruz (CHI) 0.89
Anbar Suhayb (LV) 0.92
Julio Salinas (SAN) 0.95
Esteban Mendez (EDM) 0.96

SEPTEMBER AWARDS
New York Knights RF Jose Lopez had a monster month. Hitting .400-9-26 and scoring 21 runs he took home FL Player of the Month for August. He was the first IBL hitter to record 2 3HR games when he did it a second time on the 6th of August.

Pittsburgh’s Ross Tunstall won his first CL Player of the Month Award for his 395-10-34 August. Tunstall is hitting .303-31-95 and has 98 HR’s and 279 RBI’s over the past 3 seasons while hitting .317.

Tulsa Drillers SP George Perkins took home the Frontier Leagues August Pitcher of the Month after he went 4-1 1.64. He’s 15-4 3.12 on the year.

Columbus Clippers SP Mike Holmes took home the Coastal League Pitcher of the Month honors for his 6-0 1.68 month. The 31 year old Holmes is now 17-8 3.37 after going 18-10 3.30 last year.

San Antonio Rookie 1B Ed Thomas won the FL Rookie of the Month award for his .376-8-29 August. The 22 year old is currently hitting .290-21-77.

Los Angeles Sky Sox rookie Chandler Harris hit .252 with 8 HR’s and 21 RBI’s, as well as scored 15 runs to win CL Rookie of the Month for August.

IBL Power Rankings
1) Tulsa
2) Chicago
3) Los Angeles
4) Baltimore
5) San Antonio

Bottom 5
20) Fresno
21) NewYork
22) New Hampshire
23) Corpus Christi
24) Michigan

[gehrig38]

A look at the Frontier League on Sept 1, 2014. Where the only 4 races for the post season really exist.

Taking a look back at the break, there hasn't been a huge swing for anyone.

In the East Brooklyn is 22-33, which should have cost them huge, but has only cost them a .5 gameon their lead due to Staten Islands 23-33 in the same run.

In the Central Tulsa is 36-19 since the break. That SHOULD have opened the gap but San Antonio has gone 35-20, only losing 1 game! West Michigan was 3 back at the break but has gone 28-27, losing 8 games.

In the West Sacramento led at the break. They've gone 28-28 while El Paso has gone 34-22 to go from 2 back to 4 up. Edmonton has done well, going 30-24.

In the batting race Edmonton's Gregory McCain hit .479!! in July and .389 in August to take take control of that race, it;s his to lose.

Valentin Mataini has 17 HR's and 36 RBI's since the break to keep the lead in both. Jose Lopez has 44 RBI's in July and August to get in the picture. Pat Peters (SAN) has 42 RBI's in the past 2 months as well.


Joel Downs (TUL) has won 7 of his last 10 starts to take over the wins lead while Walt Thompson has just 3 wins in the past 2 months. Is it any surprise that even though Dayton is having a nightmare season Ernie Kelly shows up? Kelly is 8-4 the past 2 months to enter the wins race. George Bean remains consistent, but isn't getting the support to get the wins.

Short of a huge run it looks like all 4 of these races will take the month to play out, given the non-existent races in the Coastal League that's a good thing.

[gehrig38]

Over in the Coastal League the picture is painted VERY differently.

Since the halfway mark Philly is 33-23, but Baltimore hasn't missed a beat at 32-23. Curious to see how this plays out now as we are 1 game back for best record.

In the Central nothings really changed. We've gone 34-21 but Columbus is 32-23 to lose little ground and actually attempt to hang with Baltimore in the WC.

In the west LA's 37-23 has blown that division out. Fresno was 3 back, and their 18-38 implosion cost them 19 games. Vegas went 27-28 and is basically in 2nd due to the Grizzly melt down. Michigan continues to make itself into the Cubs of the IBL, going 17-37 since the 81 game mark.

The Railcats have a firm hold on the WC.

If the playoffs started today Philly and Baltimore would play, and we'd draw LA.

Thomas Hood has missed 5 weeks since the break and can't qualify yet, he's back in 2 days and hitting .334 when he does.

Carlos Arredondo hit 24 in the seasons first 81 games, he's hit 24 more in the 56 games since then. Bill Alexander has hit 16 to fall 3 back. He hasn't stopped producing runs though, driving in 54 runs in the past 55. Wilson has driven in 56, Boyd 44.

Mike Holmes is 6-0 in his last 6 starts to tie Chris O'Slattery at 17. Vincent Bray is 8-1 in his last 11.

[gehrig38]

SEPTEMBER CALL UPS
A minor league free agent I signed, Steve Howard, a 32 year old corner guy, was put on the roster and recalled. With little OF depth and Barbour out I needed the extra body. C Jose Cabral, MR Ken Johnson, MR Mike Moore, SP Jeff Bentley and 27 year old Fred Huff (acquired in the Frank trade with Pittsburgh) will come up and be a defensive 1B/3B guy if I need to PH someone late. Barbour will be back in 5 days as well. I’m sorely in need of a healthy defender up the middle. Melvin Watson is back in a few days though, so that will help. #1 pick Gerardo Zamora was called up to AAA and will make 1 start before heading to instructional league after a good AA season where he want 10-12 4.06 in 28 starts. He threw 175 IP, 161 hits, K’d 150 and walked 83.