The IBL's Alaska Avalanche

[gehrig38]

4 pitchers...no hitters....

[gehrig38]

My guess is the 1st piece of news led to the 2nd. (Love the AI). Coztana was signed as an amateur FA out of the Dominican in 2024.
Jerry Grant is a career .275/.322/.458 hitter in 1348 games with 261 homers and 183 Stolen Bases. He was the 1st ever draft choice of the Alaska Avalanche (2nd overall) out of UCLA in 2015.



And some more all star break news. Arizona is 28-56, and I assume tired of it.

[gehrig38]

.

[gehrig38]

Just 1.5 games separating us and the Trappers. I've been offered a deal that interests me.
Vegas is offering 29 year old slugger Pedro Lopez (.286/.352/.487 in 978 games with 183 HR's and 198 SB's) for 26 year old 3B Dave Adams and Top hitting prospect Ramon Aguilar. Turns out they'll do it for Adams alone.

Issues? Lopez is owed 11.8/13.2/14.6/16 over the next 4 years with a 17.4M player option for 2032. He's a RHH, corner OF who can play 1B, and if desperate 3B or CF. Huge power, great baserunner, stealer. Adams is a 26 year old RHH infielder with versatility, and big wheels. 6-7 hitter in a good lineup and a very club friendly 2 years and 1.6M left on his contract.

You know once I type it out, and look at it, while it does hit my budget for 2028 hard, his bat is certainly the kind you'd hit your budget for. Given my need to be looking for offense this winter, and actually right now, I pull the trigger.

And the 2nd deal is a move to clear the roster spot for Lopez, as well as firm up the rotation. It also puts a crimp on the 2028 budget and beyond, as O'Neil is owed 13.2/14.4/15.8 through 2030. Baltimore has him in the pen, which we won't do. He'll move into our rotation as a lefty starter, taking German's spot, and if enough pitching develops (Bowman, Boucher) he could move into a late inning lefty role if need be.

Top prospect Christian Holland is called up to play 3rd, German is optioned to AAA Eagan to complete the moves.

[gehrig38]

2012 Coastal 6 Frontier 5 W Hanna (FRE) (1-0) L Wells (EP) (0-1) S Suhayb (LV) (1) HR Tunstall (PIT) (1) Davis (EDM) (1) MVP Ross Tunstall (PIT)
2013 Coastal 9 Frontier 3 W Suhayb (LV) (1-0) L Mendez (EDM) (0-1) HR Whimster (TUL) (1) MVP Lando Jongmans (BAL)
2014 Frontier 10 Coastal 4 W Barlow (DAY) (1-0) L Holmes (COL) (0-1) HR Pitzi (SAC) 2 (2) Rosa (WMI) (1) Soto (LA) (1) Boyd (BAL) (1) Evans (CC) (1) Strong (COL) (1) MVP Vasco Pitzi (SAC)
2015 Frontier 8 Coastal 1 W Barlow (DAY) (2-0) L Medina (FRE) (0-1) HR NONE MVP Jean Chartier (CHI)
2016 Frontier 5 Coastal 4 W Potts (ALK) (1-0) L Gonzalez (LA) (0-1) HR Young (TUL) (1) Garza (FRE) (1) Moore (NY) (1) Villanueva (SI) (1) MVP Matthew Moore (NY)
2017 Frontier 7 Coastal 6 W Courtney (EDM) (1-0) L Gonzalez (LA) (0-2) S Cruz (CHI) (1) HR Chavez (CHI) (1) Helton (GB) (1) Riggs (CHI) (1) MVP Todd Helton (GB)
2018 Frontier 10 Coastal 4 W Copeland (PHI) (1-0) L Dejesus (COL) (0-1) HR Morgan (CHI) 2 (2) Hudson (COL) (1) MVP Wesley Morgan (CHI)
2019 Frontier 2 Coastal 1 W Cruz (CHI) (1-0) L Barlow (2-1) HR NONE MVP Scott Rolen (GB)
2020 Frontier 9 Coastal 3 W Gonzalez (NY) (1-2) L Figueroa (SAC) (1-0) HR Rolen (GB) (1) Quinn (PHI) (1) MVP Dean Strong (COL)
2021 Coastal 4 Frontier 3 W Artlano (FRE) (1-0) L Peters (EDM) HR Walker (GB) (1) MVP David Walker (GB)
2022 Frontier 4 Coastal 3 W Mason (MICH) (1-0) L Kelley (BOS) (0-1) S Cruz (CHI) (2) HR NONE MVP John Drake (WMI)
2023 Coastal 8 Frontier 7 (11) W White (DAL) (1-0) L Smith (EDM) (0-1) HR Chavez (CHI) (2) Glaus (NY) (1) Edwards (SAN) 2 (2) Carmona (LA) (1) Oginlara (SAC) (1) MVP Cliff Edwards (SAN)
2024 Frontier 1 Coastal 0 W-Douglas (BRO) (1-0) L-Walker (SJ) S-Cruz (CHI) (3) HR Alfred (BRO) (1) MVP Rich Alfred (BRO)
2025 Frontier 4 Coastal 1 W-J.Durham (ALK) (1-0) L-C.Bond (FRE) (0-1) S-Wheeler (ALK) (1) HR-Crowder (SI) MVP Benton Crowder (SI)
2026 Frontier 6 Coastal 2 W-J.Drake (ALK) (1-0) L-C.Pennington (0-1) HR Chavez (CHI) (3) Ginger (WMI) (1) Maldonado (HOU) (1) MVP Luis Chavez (CHI)
2027 Coastal 7 Frontier 4 W-C.Campos (HOU) (1-0) L-C. Miller (WMI) (0-1) SV-Ikarashi (PIT) (1) HR Arroyo (DAY) (1) Walters (CHI) (1) S.Gomez (MICH) (1) MVP Diogo Ameixieira (TUL)



ALL STAR HISTORY
MVPS-Chicago 3, Staten Island 1, Brooklyn 1, San Antonio 1, West Michigan 1, Green Bay 3, Columbus 1, New York 1, Sacramento 1, Baltimore 1, Pittsburgh 1 Tulsa 1
HR Leader- Luis Chavez (3)
Wins Leader- Bill Barlow 2-0
Saves Leader- Ernesto Cruz (3)
Frontier league leads 11-5

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 14
RECORD: 1-3
OVERALL: 51-33 +1.5
RUNS SCORED: 442 (12) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 345 (23) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 52/100
SCHEDULE: 4 @ Hawaii/All Star Break

6/28 Halfway mark
HAW 9 ALK 2
W-Domingo (6-3) L-Hall (9-7)
HR NONE
Stan Hall had a career worst 5 run 1st and Edgard Domingo went 7-5-2-1-3-6 in shutting us down. Alfredo Sanchez went 2-4 with 3 RBI's (27).

6/29
ALK 5 HAW 2
W-Drake (10-3) L-Cameron (6-8) S-Casas (21)
HR ALK-Edwards (5) Cannon (16) HAW-Sanchez (6)
Stan Cannon homered in his 1st Alaska AB and Matt Edwards broke a severe dry spell with his own 3 run shot. Bob Harrell was 3-4 with a double (13) and John Drake went 7.1-5-2-2-1-8 to move to 10-3 3.35 on the year.

6/30
HAW 5 ALK 4
W-Hall (4-1) L-Hernandez (11-3) S-Moreno (14)
HR ALK-Edwards (6) Cannon (17) HAW-Ramirez (12)
Ben Hall went 8-8-4-4-3-7 to beat Carlos Hernandez who tossed a CG allowing 5 runs on 6 hits over 8. Matt Edwards and Stan Cannon homered for the 2nd day in a row and Martin Ramirez went 2-3 with 2 RBI's (42).

7/1
HAW 7 ALK 1
W-Castillo (7-6) L-Buckley (9-6)
HR ALK-Olson (7) HAW-Jones (7)
Vincente Castillo went 7.1-7-1-1-3-4 ina Andruw Jones was 3-4 with a homer and 3 RBI's (22) while Alfredo Sanchez went 3-4 with 3 runs scored. Michael Young was 3-3 with a double (19) in the loss. Buckley went 6-9-3-3-1-4 in the loss.

7/2
Off Day

7/3
Off Day

7/4
All Star Game

WEEK 14 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Alfredo Sanchez (HAW) 9-18 2 HR's 8 RBI's (.271-6-29)
CL POTW-Tom Wood (LA) 9-12 HR 4 RBI's (.298-6-37)

MINORS POTW
ALK BOS EDM SI NO DAY NY PHI COL SJ 2 CC

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago
2) Edmonton
3) Alaska
4) Brooklyn
5) Boston

NEWS/NOTES
Pretty significant haul by the Grizzlies here. Though Valentin is absolutely a top of the rotation arm. He's 16-19 4.39 lifetime in 61 games (47 starts) with 327 K's in 342 IP.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 15
RECORD: 3-2
OVERALL: 54-35 +2.5
RUNS SCORED: 470 (28) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 369 (24) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 63/100 (Big time jump around the trades, fans are excited about the new players, Pedro Lopez is the 3rd most popular player (behind Hall and Drake) already)
SCHEDULE: 4 @ Edmonton/1 vs Arizona

We begin the 2nd half as a very 'new look' club. Cannon hitting 4th, Christian Holland up, playing 3rd and hitting 8th and newly acquired Pedro Lopez in the 2 hole vs RHP. Chet O'Neil slides into the 5 spot behind Buckley.

We rank 2nd in Runs Against, 3rd in SP ERA, 1st in BP ERA and 3rd in Def. No higher than 6th in any offensive category but SB (1st), but I would bet that will change.

Not to mention we kick off the half with a 4 game set in Edmonton, the team trailing us by just 1.5 games.

7/7
ALK 9 EDM 7
W-Sheppard (3-1) L-Holt (2-1) S-Casas (22)
HR ALK-Lopez (14) EDM-Carter (6) Flores (1) Webb (9)
A 49 minute rain delay in the 6th was followed by an 8 run 7th inning. Hall left (5.2-6-4-4-1-7 2 more HR's) trailing 4-1 but Ivan Martinez was pulled (6-6-2-2-0-3) after the delay and Chance Holt and Franco Rodriguez blew it. Pedro Lopez was 2-5 with 3 RBI's including a bases loaded double (12) in the 7th. New Trapper Wes Webb was 2-4 with a 1st inning 3 run homer.

7/8
EDM 6 ALK 5
W-Santos (2-0) L-Drake (10-4) S-McIntyre (15)
HR ALK-Edwards (7) EDM-Anderson 2 (9)
Matt Edwards led off the 9th with a solo shot but with the power of the lineup up, no one could get anything done. Drake never had it today (4-9-5-3-2-1) while Jose Santos went 7-7-4-4-4-0 for the win. Kevin Olson went 3-5 with a triple (4) and 2 RBI's (38) and Christian Holland was 3-4 with 2 doubles (3) in the loss. Horst Grueter went 3-5 and drove in a run (46).

INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS FILE TODAY: Here's the list. There are two big names on this list. 16 year old LHP Jose Vargas, who's asking 1.2 million, and 16 year old OF Domingo Casillas who's asking for a record 4.0 million to sign. Given that the cap is 2.72 and going 15+% over that will mean I cannot sign any player for more than 226K next year (in addition to the 100% tax), if I do go for it, I had better get him. Vargas is a low 90's kid at 16, Casillas has 20+ gap and HR power but is a 200K candidate who's OBP will likely mirror his batting average. He does not and will not walk.



7/9
ALK 6 EDM 2
W-Hernandez (12-3) L-Allison (7-6)
HR NONE
The entire lineup chip in bit by bit and Stan Cannon drove in 2 (70) as Carlos Hernandez battled through a 5-5-2-2-2-5 outing on 104 pitches, and Alexander and Sheppard threw 2 apiece, Sheppard with 5 k's in his 2.

CONTRACT NEWS-MR Ron Alexander has agreed to terms on a 2 year 3.88M contract extension to keep the 30 year old here through the 2029 season. He's been a horse the last few years, and is 21-10 5 Saves and a 4.40 in 199 career games with 370 K's in 319 IP.

7/10
ALK 4 EDM 3
W-O'Neil (5-3) L-Miller (4-6) S-Casas (23)
HR EDM-Dominguez (14)
Chet O'Neill goes 7-5-3-3-1-3 for the win and Durham (4) Carlson (9) and Casas get the final 6 outs. Every Alaska player had at least 1 hit. Vincente Dominguez went 3-4 with a double (12) homer and an RBI (55).

7/11
AZ 6 ALK 4
W-Thomas (2-6) L-Buckley (9-7) S-Castle (18)
HR ALK-Edwards (8) Holland (1)
Bryan Thomas went 8.2-6-4-3-1-4 to beat Gerald Buckley (7-9-4-1-1-8) as Christian Wilkins and Nathanial Johnson drove in 2 runs each. Christian Holland hit his 1st big league HR in the loss.

MINORS NEWS
1st overall pick Richard Morton was hitting .344/.494/.508 at Short Season Juneau, and has been promoted to Class A Spokane.

WEEK 15 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Jose Perez (BRO) 8-13 3 HR's 6 RBI's (.324-11-59)
CL POTW-Mario Martinez (LV) 10-19 3 HR's 7 RBI's (.269-22-60)

MINORS POTW
GB PHIL 2 HOU NH 2 HAW BRO 2 TUL FRE AZ

IBL CAREER LEADER: AT BATS
9032 Curt Whimster (BUF)
8020 Lando Jongmans (AAA)
7954 Gerald Wright
7787 Felix Torres
7313 Rich Stone

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Brooklyn (4)
3) Boston (5)
4) Alaska (3)
5) Buffalo (-)
OUT Edmonton (6)

NEWS/NOTES
Hawaii trades for 2 big power bats (Johnson had 31 HR's in 72 AAA games this year) Ortiz hit 38 homers playing every day in Dallas last year. Neither is an Avg or OBP guy, but both have monster pop. They are 11th or worse in any meaningful offensive category and pretty good in the pitching categories.

The LA El Paso deal is a pretty big one, big talent going both ways and two contenders making pushes.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 16
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL: 59-36 +4.5
RUNS SCORED: 513 (45) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 395 (26) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 60/100 (they were pissed at the Merritt signing! -3)
SCHEDULE: 3 vs Arizona/Off Day/3 vs West Michigan

7/12
ALK 13 AZ 5
W-Hall (10-7) L-Zito (2-11)
HR AZ-Peterson (13) ALK-Ibarbia 2 (8)
Stan Hall continues to struggle a bit, taking a 4-0 lead into the 5th and giving up 2 and 2 more in the 7th but the offense bails him out led by Manny Ibarbia's 2-4 2 homer 6 RBI day (48). Tim Harvey was 3-5 with a stolen base and Michael Young (22) and Pedro Lopez (14) each doubled twice. Matt Savage was 3-5 with a double in the loss. Barry Zito continued his nightmare season, after going 18-7 3.93 last year in Pittsburgh, he falls to 2-11 6.46 by giving up 7 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in 4.1 IP.

FA NEWS
Holy cow, Vegas got serious this morning. How about this press conference? The 51's, 4.5 games behind Dallas, and 14th in the league in OBP, 10th in runs, 12th in average, ink 3 veterans and make all kinds of lateral moves to clean house. Merritt will hit 2nd, play right, Samudid cleanup and play center and Segura will hit 6th and play 1st. I imagine their top rated bullpen will appreciate the help. Never seen anything like this. All to 1 year deals too.




7/13
ALK 4 AZ 3
W-Sheppard (4-1) L-Burns (2-9) S-Casas (24)
HR AZ-Wood (6) Peterson (14) ALK-Walton (8)
John Drake's pitching line.... 0.2-1-1-1-0-0 1 HR. He hit Denny Boyce after Michael Wood's 1st inning homer, and they were ejected. Stupid as hell. Jake Carlson went 4 and Marc Sheppard 3.1 to bail the pen out, and Cisco Casas got the final 3. Christian Holland was 3-4 with an RBI (6) and Mike Walton was 2-3, scoring twice on a double (16) and a homer (8).

ROSTER NEWS-Both players received a 4 game suspension (stupid, no way a SP should ever get less than 6)

7/14
AZ 10 ALK 7
W-Hernandez (6-9) L-Hernandez (12-4) S-Castle (19)
HR AZ-Savage 2 (5) ALK-Vaughn 2 (11)
An ugly game that got worse, but wasn't as bad as it could have been. Carlos Hernandez went 3.2-3-5-5-5-4 in a nightmare that ended with him coming out after throwing a pitch in the 4th. His elbow was hurting him but it turns out it's going to be a DtD thing thankfully. The pen has to get 5.1 innings, and does, but gives up 5 in the process. Matt Savage goes 2-2 with 3 runs and 7 RBI's (33) on 2 3 run HR's. Kevin Vaughn hits 2 homers and scores 3, and drives in 3 (43) and Joao Carnaxide goes 3-5 with 2 doubles (13) and 2 RBI's (15).

7/15
Off Day

7/16
ALK 5 WMI 4
W-Sheppard (5-1) L-Miller (9-7) S-Casas (25)
HR WMI-Turner (8)
Cisco Casas got out of a 9th inning 1st and 3rd 0 out situation with 2 k's and a pop up to preserve the lead and the game. O'Neil's line 5-8-4-4-3-4 on 121 pitches looks bad, but he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in the 2nd, and somehow held them down while the offense got to 2025 Koufax winner Cody Miller (5.1-8-5-5-3-2). Lopez (56) and Ibarbia (50) both drove in 2, Ibarbia stealing his 12th.

7/17
ALK 4 WMI 3
W-Buckley (10-7) L-A.Johnson (9-7) S-Casas (26)
HR WMI-Warren (11) Hernandez (3)
Gerald Buckley got 2 double plays and Jake Carlson a 3rd in a huge spot in the 7th as they held the White Caps to 3 runs on 7 hits. Buckley went 6.1-6-2-2-3-2. Artie Johnson took the CG loss going 8-10-4-4-1-4.

7/18
ALK 10 WMI 1
W-Hall (11-7) L-Flores (6-3)
HR ALK-Holland (2) Lopez (15)
For a game that started 1B, 2B, 1B for Stan Hall his line of 7-5-1-1-2-7 was outstanding. The offense pounded out 14 hits and 10 runs, led by Ibarbia's 3-4 2 doubles (14) and 2 RBI's (52) and Pedro Lopez's 2-4 3 RBI day (59).

WEEK 16 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Juan Barrios (CHI) 13-24 HR 10 RBI's (.353-2-56)
CL POTW-Dennis McKenzie (DAL) 8-20 4 HR's 11 RBI's (.290-22-69)

MINORS POTW
TUL 2 EP 2 BUF HAW LV WMI COL EDM HOU MICH

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Dallas (-)
3) Alaska (4)
4) Boston (3)
5) Brooklyn (2)
OUT Buffalo (11)

NEWS/NOTES
Really happy to see Christian Schall land somewhere, just sorry it took this long. Seems a lot of teams are going the FA route in lieu of trades this year.

Boston moves 22 year old Francisco Salazar into the rotation from AAA after dealing Shields away. Cruz will backup Carlos Martinez behind the plate.
Edmonton released former White Cap SP Dan Miller, whom they'd Rule 5'd, back to West Michigan, recalled C Ray Brennan from AAA and inserted Shields into their 2 slot.

And the very next day the Bombers grab Martin Ramirez from Hawaii, who's having a career year at the plate. He immediately moves into the every day role, but man that's a pretty heavy price to pay for a FA at years end, and a 34 year old Catcher. Perez is a top flight C prospect who struggled at AAA, but a + defender and a very good left handed bat. Hawaii calls him up and he's going to catch from here on in it appears. Soto has a very good chance to be a real good hitter, possible 5 hole guy if he meets expectations. I traded for Ramirez in Chicago, and again here in Alaska, getting Matt Edwards in the deal here.

Wow, not even sure what to say about the Columbus/Chicago trade. Villareal had an MVP season. Apparently they feel top prospect Hubert Zmelik is ready, as he was promoted and is leading off now. Castro went back on the DL today as well, which I assume had something to do with this. They sent Kevin Graham to Tulsa (7-5 4.97) and also recalled outfielder Felix Estrada (.309/.373/.364 in 69 AAA games). Marquez is clearly a huge prospect, and Jones has won 148 games in his career and had resigned a club friendly deal to return to the team he started with. Marquez projects to be a big time power bat, cleanup hitter and corner OF. Also very odd that these two rivals would do this within their division.

[gehrig38]

A look inside the league with 9 weeks to go.

Edmonton is going to keep this close, I am not sure why we aren't playing better, when we hit it seems we don't pitch, and vice versa. The lack of names in the offensive categories just illuminates what I already knew, we need more offense.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 17
RECORD: 3-4
OVERALL: 62-40 +1.5
RUNS SCORED: 542 (29) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 436 (41) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 62/100 (+2)
SCHEDULE: 3 vs Los Angeles/3 @ San Jose/1 vs Hawaii

7/19
ALK 4 LA 3
W-Carlson (3-1) L-Wooge (4-3) S-Casas (27)
HR ALK-Harrell (13)
Bob Harrells 6th inning 3 run homer turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win after Jake Carlson and Cisco Casas closed with 3.2 no-hit innings. Drake went 5.1-7-3-3-1-10 in a ND and Clovis Wooge took the CG loss in a 8-9-4-4-1-10 outing. Harrell drove in 3 (53).



2000 HIT CLUB
Luis Chavez 8/19/25 (30 years 271 days)
Rich Stone 9/15/23 (32 years 195 days)
Jeffrey Hudson 8/8/25 (32 years 223 days)
Curt Whimster 8/15/22 (33 years 262 days)
Gerald Wright 7/22/23 (35 years 125 days)
Tim Davis 7/20/27 (42 years 169 days)

7/20
LA 17 ALK 3
W-Bernard (2-2) L-Hernandez (12-5) S-Plastiras (1)
HR LA-Lopez (5) Wood 2 (11) Rollins (15) Marquez (9) ALK-Holland (3)
How's this for a SP line? 1-7-9-5-1-0 2 HR's? Ya, that kind of day. An 8 run 1st. Nobody was unscathed. Tom Wood was 4-6 with a double (16) 2 homers and 6 RBI's (54). LA scored 17 runs on 19 hits and 4 walks.

7/21
LA 8 ALK 7
W-Dean (6-9) L-O'Neil (5-4) S- Cruz (24)
HR LA-Dejesus (18) Rollins (16) Marquez (10) ALK-Cannon (18) Garcia (1) Lopez (16)
Another nightmare start as O'Neil gives up 8 on 9 hits and 3 homers in 4.2 IP. Durham and Morales keep them off the board as the offense climbs back, but falls a run short. Andy Davis went 3-5 with a 2B (20) and a stolen base (23) and Jimmy Rollins 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBI's (63) and a stolen base (18) and Pedro De Jesus hit a 3 run homer (56)

7/22
SJ 2 ALK 0
W-Cardenas (6-7) L-Buckley (10-8)
HR NONE
Luis Cardenas tossed a 3-hit shutout in a 116 pitch effort. He punched out 5, walked 2. Gustavo Jaquias drove in both Shark runs with RBI singles (42) and stole a base (17)

7/23
SJ 5 ALK 4
W-Byington (5-2) L-Alexander (4-2)
HR ALK-Olson (8) SJ-Kelley (4)
Richard Kelly's 3rd hit of the day was a 2 out walk off HR off Ron Alexander. Stan Hall again failed to protect a lead, giving up 3 in the bottom of the 6th of a 4-1 game as he went 8-8-4-4-1-10 for the ND. Enrique Garcia was 4-5 and Kevin Olson homered in a 2-4 2 RBI day (42).

7/24
ALK 5 SJ 3
W-Drake (11-4) L-Caldwell (0-4) S-Casas (28)
HR SJ-Santana (2) Welch (22) Craig (8)
John Drake went 7 giving up 3 solo homers and striking out 10 and the offense rallied for 4 in the 7th to break their little slump and keep ahold of 1st place. Bob Harrell was 2-5 with 2 RBI's (55)

7/25
ALK 6 HAW 3
W-Hernandez (13-5) L-Leese (5-8) S-Casas (29)
HR HAW-Perez (2) ALK-Harrell (14)
Carlos Hernandez went 7-5-2-2-3-9 on 117 pitches to beat former Avalanche prospect Wes Leese (4.1-9-5-5-2-3) as Christian Holland went 3-4 and Bob Harrell hit his 14th homer.

WEEK 17 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Wes Webb (EDM) 12-25 3 HR's 9 RBI's (.297-4-15)
CL POTW-Jason Hester (NO) 16-29 HR 6 RBI's (.245-13-36)

MINORS POTW
BRO PHI TUL 2 WMI EDM BAL CHI SAC DAY EP GB

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Boston (4)
3) Alaska (3)
4) Brooklyn (5)
5) Edmonton (-)
OUT Dallas (6)

NEWS/NOTES
Columbus makes another deal and now they're stacked at the top of their lineup, and in the outfield as they acquire Karl Carter from the Hooks. A career .326 hitter with a .385 OBP in 575 games for Corpus Christi. He's a free agent at years end and I'd imagine they'll work to sign him. Two decent arms in return, but if they resign him, they stole him imo.

Both Vegas and Corpus Christi are less than 8 games out, but it feels like the Hooks, based on these two trades, are 'rebuilding'? Their owner, Scott Barker, came into the season with Championship expectations but apparently their baseball ops folks have gone into rebuild mode. I hear his argument is that with the leagues 5th highest budget (140M) they should be playing for it all. They're in the midst of a nice 5 out of 6 year run making the post season, and having won their 1st world series title in their first trip (2021), they want more.

[gehrig38]

Holland is turning into a nice player, offensively getting to the point he could man the hot corner for a long time.

[gehrig38]

Tons of trades the past 2 weeks.

2027 WEEK 18
RECORD: 4-2
OVERALL: 66-42 +.5
RUNS SCORED: 566 (24) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 455 (19) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 63/100 (+1)
SCHEDULE: 3 vs Hawaii/Off Day/3 @ Brooklyn

7/26
ALK 3 HAW 2
W-O'Neil (6-4) L-Domingo (7-4) S-Durham (3)
HR HAW-Ortiz (7) ALK-Cannon (19)
Chet O'Neil went 7-5-2-2-2-6 and Alexander (H3) and Durham (S3) got the final 6 outs. Stan Cannon drove in 2 (75) and Kevin Olson was 2-4 and Mauro Ibarbia 2-3.

7/27
ALK 5 HAW 0
W-Buckley (11-8) L-Castillo (8-9)
HR ALK-Edwards (9) Garcia (2)
Buckley and Sheppard combine on a 6-hit shutout, Buckley going 7-5-0-0-2-6 before tiring (113 pitches). Kevin Olson goes 2-4 steals 2 (22) and scores 2, Matt Edwards drives in 3 (28).

7/28
HAW 3 ALK 2
W-Harvey (8-5) L-Hall (11-8) S-Moreno (21)
Stan Hall sets an Avalanche record with 15 strikeouts in 8 strong innings but takes the loss as Josh Harvey (8-6-1-1-2-4) and Juan Moreno (1-3-1-0-0-0) held off a late rally. Bob Harrell was 4-4 with 2 doubles (16) and Roy Rice went 3-4 with a triple (2) and 2 RBI's (20).

7/29
Off Day

7/30
ALK 7 BRO 6
W-Durham (3-0) L-Watson (12-8) S-Casas (30)
HR ALK-Holland (4) Ibarbia (9) BRO-Hilton (1) Brooks (9)
Christian Holland and Manny Ibarbia hit 7th inning homers to make a 4-3 deficit a 7-6 win. Holland was 3-4 with a double (5) homer and 4 RBI's (19) but his error in the 7th allowed the tying run to score, costing Drake a win. Jeff Watson went 7.1-10-7-7-2-2 on 112 pitches to fall to 12-8 3.53. Michael Young was 3-5 with a double (26). David Sprague went 4-5 in the loss.

7/31
ALK 7 BRO 5
W-Hernandez (14-5) L-Hamilton (8-9) S-Casas (31)
HR ALK-Edwards (10) Harrell (15) Cannon (20) BRO-Bowers (20)
Carlos Hernandez carried a 7-2 lead into the 9th before allowing the 1st two to reach, 2 relievers and 3 runs later Cisco Casas got the final 2 outs for his 31st. Matt Edwards hit a 3 run homer in the 1st, and Stan Cannon a 3 run shot in the 3rd.

8/1
BRO 3 ALK 0
W-Espinoza (9-5) L-O'Neil (6-5) S-Sharp (24)
HR NONE
Gabriel Espinoza and 3 relievers combined on a 5-hitter to beat Chet O'Neil (6-6-2-2-2-4). Hilton (4) Riggs (34) and Thomason (49) all drove in a run.

WEEK 18 SUMMARY
FL POTW-David Welch (MICH) 10-26 4 HR's 11 RBI's (.272-23-60)
CL POTW-David Jones (LA) 13-21 HR 10 RBI's (.303-9-38)

MINORS POTW
PIT SAN 2 GB NY LV WMI COL 2 TUL CC DAY

MINORS POTM
HITTERS TUL 2 COL 2 BUF HAW ALK EP 2 AZ BRO
PITCHERS CHI BAL MICH 2 COL EP 2 LV ALK SI BUF GB

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Edmonton (5)
3) Boston (2)
4) Alaska (3)
5) West Michigan (-)
OUT Brooklyn (7)

NEWS/NOTES
Unsure of Monday's deals. Vegas deals Rodriguez and then a good hitting prospect, getting 2 IBL arms and a very good pitching prospect. They're in the bottom half of hitting (except HR's 7th) and pitching (except BP ERA 1st) but just 6.5 out. Their owner was hoping for a .500 season, and the ops people are sort of in neutral. The Hooks are 7.5 out, and have moved into rebuild mode, to which Rodriguez for a SP and a closing prospect is puzzling. A team 13th or worse in every pitching/defense category apparently has little to lose trading pitching.

The Bulldogs trade puts Ikarashi (18 SV 1.45) and now Shimizu (25 SV 2.98) at the back end of their pen, both closers. My guess is with Shimizu at 12M and a free agent at years end, they've found their replacement and plan on spending that money elsewhere.





Wow what a day. The 30th, day before the deadline, 6 trades are made. Hawaii makes 3 more deals, completely restructuring their club. Interestingly they acquire a top prospect only to turn right around and make a deal including him with Pittsburgh.

Kinda hard to decipher the ins and outs of the other deals, but to say some of the teams leading are solidifying and anyone trailing made at least one deal to try and get into the mix. The River Cats move to get Picot (who saved 43 in '23 and '24) strengthens their pen quite a bit and I would bet was done to defend against former Avalanche Closer Mike Wheeler not picking up his 12M player option next year.

The move Buffalo made, trading Cotton, I guess means they're going with Tom Butler, who's all glove. It's a great glove, but Cotton is a good defender and a very nice bat. Reyes, the prospect, has huge upside and Jackson is still the best swing man in the game in my opinion.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 19
RECORD: 4-3
OVERALL: 70-45 +.5
RUNS SCORED: 605 (39) 7th
RUNS AGAINST: 481 (26) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 63/100
SCHEDULE: 3 @ New York/3 vs Chicago/1 vs Edmonton

8/2
ALK 10 NY 3 (11)
W-Casas (2-2) L-Kurota (1-2)
HR ALK-Lopez 2 (18)
Gerald Buckley went 7.2-5-1-1-3-4 and Josh Toner 8-5-2-2-4-7 before Cisco Casas blew the save with 2 outs in the 9th. We then scored 8 times in the top of the 11th off two New York relievers. Pedro Lopez homered twice in a 2-5 3 run day, Matt Edwards went 3-5 with a double (12) and 2 runs.

8/3
NY 2 ALK 1 (12)
W-Kurota (2-2) L-Morales (2-3)
HR NY-Goodwin (6)
Mike Goodwin hit a 12th inning walk off HR to end a fantastically pitched game. Stan Hall (8-4-1-0-1-10) continued his tough luck season as 24 year old John Dayman went 8.2-5-1-1-2-6 to keep it tied.

8/4
NY 6 ALK 1
W-Lujan (6-2) L-Drake (11-5)
HR ALK-Lopez (19) NY-M.Ramirez (16) Perkins (2)
The offense stayed cold as Juan Lujan went 8-5-0-0-1-5 (Knight SP last 2 games 16.2-10-1-1-3-11) and John Drake took a 0-0 game into the 6th before giving up 5 (4 earned). Manny Ramirez was 2-4 with a double (26) homer and 3 RBI's (66).

8/5
ALK 6 CHI 4
W-Durham (4-0) L-Marr (1-2) S-Casas (32)
HR NONE
Carlos Hernandez tossed 56 pitches in a 4 run 1st but managed to battle through a 5-6-4-4-5-3 outing and 4 relievers held the line before the offense managed to plate 3 in the bottom of the 8th. Kevin Vaughn was 3-4 and Ibarbia (59) and Harvey (14) both drove in 2 with Harvey's coming on an 8th inning tie breaking 2 run double (9).

CONTRACT NEWS-DH Mike Walton, who was arbitration eligible this winter, agreed to terms on a 4 year 8.2M dollar deal. His base of 1.1/1.5/2.2 and a 4th year team option at 3.4, He had an arbitration number of 3.74 so we cut some 2028 cost, which is imperative given the contracts we took on. I am also in talks with Bob Harrell (3.6m arb) on a 2-4 year deal as well. Our projected payroll is at 80.8 for next year. That's with a projected 93m dollar budget.

8/6
ALK 12 CHI 4
W-O'Neil (7-5) L-Acosta (6-6)
HR CHI-Hardy (5) ALK-Olson (9) Holland (5) Harrell (16) Cannon (21) Ibarbia (10)
Chet O'Neil (7-7-2-2-2-8) had another strong start and the offense continued to wake up. Kevin Olson, in a good sized slump, went 3-4 with a homer and 3 runs scored, 2 RBI's (47) and a stolen base (23). Bob Harrell (61) and Christian Holland (22) both drove in 3. Cedric Hardy was 3-5 with a double (4) and a homer in the loss.

CONTRACT NEWS-Bob Harrell has agreed to terms ona 3 year 9.12M dollar contract extension. The 25 year old 1B was looking at an arbitration case in the mid to high 3's next year, and with this deal will receive 2.5/3.0/3.5 over the next 3 seasons.

8/7
ALK 6 CHI 3
W-Buckley (12-8) L-Bright (11-7) S-Casas (33)
HR CHI-Hardy (5) ALK-Lopez (20) Ibarbia (11)
Gerald Buckley worked through some shoddy defense to go 7.1-5-3-2-1-5 and Pedro Lopez' 3 run homer in the 2nd gave us the lead. Cisco Casas punched out 3 in 1.1 innings to close out the 3 game sweep of the Iron Pigs. Juan Barrios went down today and will be out for the next month for Chicago.

Next up is a 3 game set vs 2nd place Edmonton. With the 3 game sweep of Chicago we managed to pickup just a game, now 1.5 up.

8/8
EDM 4 ALK 3 (12)
W-Scott (5-3) L-Sheppard (5-2)
HR ALK-Lopez (21)
Another gem of a start for Hall, and another ND. The offense sputtered, leaving a team record 18 men on base and Horst Grueters 2 run 12th inning double was the game winner. Hall went 7-9-2-2-1-6 on 117 pitches. Pedro Lopez was 4-7 with a homer and 2 RBI's (72) in the loss. Stan Cannon went down in the 5th and is DtD for the next week. Vincente Dominguez and Bob Carter had 3 hit days for the Trappers, who are now .5 game behind us.

WEEK 19 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Mario Gomez (COL) 14-29 2 HR's 6 RBI's (.317-20-76)
CL POTW-Lorenzo Bermudez (PHI) 11-25 4 HR's 13 RBI's (.318-19-74)

MINORS POTW
PROV SI 2 NO 2 DAY 2 BAL 2 LA 2 DAL

IBL ACTIVE CAREER LEADER: RUNS
1688 Curt Whimster (BUF)
1484 Luis Chavez (CHI)
1471 Jeffrey Hudson (CHI)
1379 Hugh Collins -
1344 Michael Moran (SAC)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Edmonton (2)
3) Philadelphia (-)
4) Buffalo (-)
5) Alaska (4)
OUT Boston (9) West Michigan (8)

NEWS/NOTES
Devastating news out of Sacramento. The Coastals top rotation loses its ace for the remainder of the year, including the post season.

And LA follows up a day later with bad news of their own. Trailing the River Cats by 4.5, they lose their best offensive player, and 2027 All Star for 5 weeks.

[gehrig38]

IBL ANNOUNCES PLAYOFF FORMAT CHANGE FOR 2028 SEASON:
The owners and players have come to agreement on a significant change to the current playoff format, that will take effect in the 2028 season.

With an urgent desire to have playoff races and more teams involved, the league will now allow for 3 wild card teams from each league.

The division winners with the best record in the Frontier, and Coastal, will receive 1st round Bye's and be paired off with the winner of the series between the #5 and #6 seeds in the Division series, with the series between the #2 Seed and and #7 seed winner taking on the winner of the 3 and 4 seed series.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 20
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL:75-46 +1.5
RUNS SCORED: 638 (33) 8th
RUNS AGAINST: 498 (17) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Happy 64/100
SCHEDULE: 3 vs Edmonton/3 vs Hawaii/Off Day

8/9
ALK 6 EDM 1
W-Drake (12-5) L-Santos (4-3)
HR EDM-Anderson (15) ALK-Holland (6) Harrell (17)
John Drake continued to clutch up in some big games, tossing a CG 6-hitter and needing just 103 pitches to do it (9-6-1-1-0-4). Bob Harrell was 3-4 with 3 RBI's (64) and Olson, Edwards, Walton and Holland had 2 hit days. Holland doubling (8) and hitting his 6th.

8/10
EDM 6 ALK 4
W-Abrao (6-6) L-Sheppard (5-3) S-McIntyre (20)
HR EDM-Anderson (16) Grueter (26) ALK-Vaughn (12)
A pen with Casas resting managed to cough up a 4-3 lead with a 3 run 9th after Carlos Hernandez went 8-4-3-3-1-9. Matt Anderson drove in 3 (58) in a 2-4 day.

8/11
ALK 8 EDM 5
W-O'Neil (8-5) L-I.Martinez (11-8) S-Casas (34)
HR EDM-Grueter (27) Webb (14) ALK-Walton (9)
A shaky O'Neil (5.1-9-5-5-0-4) wasn't enough for the Trappers as the Avalanche offense pounded out 14 hits off 4 Edmonton arms. Kevin Olson went 4-5 in the leadoff spot with a double (24) triple (7) and scored twice. Christian Holland was 3-5 with a double (9) and a stolen base (1). Wes Webb went 3-4 with a homer and drove in 2 in the loss. Ivan Martinez was bombed in a 2.2-8-6-6-1-4 outing to drop to 11-8 3.77.

GREAT GAMES-Bryant is in the midst of a down year again, but this gem garnered just the 3rd 100+ game score in the IBL's 16 year history. Giulio Ammanati broke the no-hit bid up with a 7th inning 2 out single.





8/12
ALK 5 HAW 2
W-Buckley (13-8) L-Miller (5-6) S-Casas (35)
HR HAW-A.Jones (15)
Buckley goes 7-5-1-1-1-2 and Alexander (H5) Carlson (H15) and Casas (SV35) get the final 6. Michael Youngs big 2 run double in the 7th made it 4-1.

8/13
ALK 4 HAW 3 (13)
W-Morales (3-3) L-Hankins (1-2)
HR ALK Harrell (18)
Stan Hall continues his season of bad luck, going 8-3-3-3-2-10 in another ND but the pen (Alexander and Morales) go a combined 5-3-0-0-2-5 for the win. Tim Harvey delivered the walk off single, scoring Bob Harrell. Harvey was 3-6 on the day.

8/14
ALK 6 HAW 0
W-Drake (13-5) L-Cameron (9-12)
HR ALK-Harrell (19)
John Drake continued to deal as he tossed 7.2 shutout innings giving up just 4 hits while punching out 11 and walking none. Christian Holland went 3-4 and Kevin Olson drove in 2 (52).

8/15
Off Day

WEEK 20 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Harley Warren (WMI) 13-26 6 HR's 22 RBI's (.241-23-96) Had 5 game stretch 9-18 5 HR's 18 RBI's
CL POTW-Nawaf Ma'n (TUL) .524 4 HR's 12 RBI's (.296-24-79)

IBL ACTIVE CAREER LEADER: STRIKEOUTS
2865 Jesus Romano (NY)
2460 Bryant Thomas (FRE)
2356 Colin Durham (NY)
2349 Ramon Roa (BAL)
2275 Vicente Romero (BUF)

MINORS POTW
MICH SI LV 2 WMI NO DAL 2 FRE NH PROV BRO

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (5)
2) Edmonton (2)
3) Chicago (1)
4) Buffalo (4)
5) West Michigan (8)
OUT Philadelphia (8)

NEWS/NOTES
Wheeler was the 2nd pick in 2024 out of Cal State-Fullerton, and at 25 is a tad old to be a big time prospect, but he's turning into a solid player. He's a gold glove defender in left (already winning a minor league GG there) and can play above average CF, which means as a LHH he could be a legit 4th or 5th OF option. But certainly the kind of player a great team has in AAA for insurance.

All three prospects, in addition to being young, have legitimate potential to play in the IBL. If you've been following since the beginning you may remember Pat as the only player that has ever gone straight from the draft to the IBL (which he did in 2017) as the 1st overall pick out of U. of South Carolina for a record (and still is) bonus of 9.16M. He threw a 2-hitter, and a 1 hitter, in his first month in the big leagues. Also won the 2019 gold glove. He had major surgery in 2021, missing almost a year, and was hurt in 2025 as well. He hurt himself in May of this year and is just recently back. He's 94-106 4.11 lifetime in 271 starts and a free agent at years end. He settles in behind Koufax candidate Wilber Chase (17-4 3.64) in the Diablo rotation. El Paso is 8.5 games in front of 2nd place Houston.

Boston receives disastrous news as 25 year old ace will have his 3rd major arm surgery in the past 3 years, this time missing 11-12 months (meaning he's out until next September most likely). The Bombers are currently 5 up on Philly and 6 up on Pittsburgh in the Keystone.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 21
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL: 80-47 +4.5
RUNS SCORED: 682 (44) 6th
RUNS AGAINST: 524 (26) t-1st
OWNER/FANS: Happy 64/100
SCHEDULE: 3 @ Fresno/3 vs Sacramento

8/16
ALK 6 FRE 2
W-Hernandez (15-5) L-Bond (8-12)
HR FRE-McPhee (7)
Hernandez goes 8-4-2-2-2-8 on 112 pitches and Alex Covington went 3-5 with a double (10) and 2 runs. Joao Carnaxide and Christian Holland both had 2 hits and 2 RBI's. Cordell Bond went 6.2-11-6-3-1-1 in the loss. Carnaxide's 3rd inning single extended his hit streak to 20 games.

8/17
ALK 5 FRE 2
W-O'Neil (9-5) L-B. Thomas (8-12) S-Casas (36)
HR FRE-Bond (19)
Chet O'Neil tossed 6 solid innings, giving up a run on 8 hits with 0 walks and 2 K's to beat Bryant Thomas (8-12 4.68) who went 7-10-5-3-3-9. Andre Blakeway went 3-4 in the loss.

8/18
ALK 16 FRE 6
W-Buckley (14-8) L-Palacios (7-8)
HR ALK-Edwards 2 (12) Ibarbia (12) FRE-Morgan (13)
20 hits and 5 walks led to a 10 run beating, backing Gerald Buckley's 3 earned over 7, he's now 14-8 3.02. Enrique Garcia went 3-4 with a double and scored 4 times, Matt Edwards was 4-4 with 2 homers and drove in 5 (40) and also scored 3 times. Bob Harrell was 3-6 with 2 doubles (21) and 2 RBI's (69). Mike Walton went 4-5 with a double and 4 RBI's (47).

STREAKS-In the history of the IBL, all levels, there has been fewer than 15 streaks total, of 30 or more games.



8/19
ALK 6 SAC 5
W-Hall (12-8) L-Meredith (10-10) S-Casas (37)
HR SAC-Hernandez GS (11) ALK-Olson (10) Harrell (20) Lopez (22)
Stan Hall carried a 6-1 lead into the 9th (8-7-3-3-0-7) before 2 singles ended his day, and Rob Alexander came in and allowed another, and then Mariano Hernandez's grand slam to make it 6-5 before there was an out. Cisco Casas got the final 3 for his league leading 37th save. Matt Edwards (3-4) and Bob Harrell (3-4 2B (22) HR (20) 3 RBI's (72) had another big day at the plate.

STREAKS-Beard goes 2-4 to extend his streak to 31 games.

8/20
ALK 6 SAC 5 (12)
W-Hansen (1-0) L-Uribe (6-5)
HR ALK-Cannon (22) Lopez 2 (24) Ibarbia (13)
Christian Hollands 0-5 day ended in a 1-6 walkoff win as he singled in the game winner in the 12th. Kevin Olson went 3-6. John Drake had to leave in the 4th with some arm issues, no word yet.

INJURY NEWS-He's strained an ab, and will be out about 3 weeks. Top prospect Mike Bowman (2nd overall pick in 2025) will be added to the 40 man and recalled.

STREAKS-Beard goes 1-4 with a 1st inning single to extend his streak to 32. The streak is a new AAA record (old record of 30 held by 3 players).

8/21
SAC 6 ALK 5
W-Miller (1-2) L-Durham (4-1) S-Wheeler (39)
HR SAC-Aronyk GS (35) ALK-Covington (7)
Carlos Hernandez gave up a 1st inning grand slam in a horrid 4.1-11-5-5-3-2 day but the offense scored 5 times in the 5th to tie it, and get him off the hook. Adronyk was 3-5 with 4 RBI's (110) and Antonio Lopez went 4-5. Alex Covington homered and drove in 3 (27).

STREAKS-Ben Beard went 1-4 with a 5th inning single to extend his AAA record hitting streak to 33 games.

8/22
Off Day
Beard goes 1-4 again, singling in the 8th to move his streak to 34.

WEEK 21 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Travis Graham 10-20 4 HR's 11 RBI's (.322-6-19)
CL POTW-Antonio Altagracia 12-23 2 HR's 4 RBI's (.288-8-38)

MINORS POTW
NO BOS SAC HAW AZ LV BAL PHI COL CC SI WMI

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Chicago (3)
3) West Michigan (5)
4) Buffalo (4)
5) Columbus (-)
OUT Edmonton (7)

NEWS/NOTES
Dallas has just a 1.5 game lead on Vegas and Salazar was having a very good year. 25 year old former Avalanche 1st round pick (12th overall) Bruce Gardner has been called up for his 1st IBL action. A ++ defender at 1st and 3rd with a decent bat, he'll hit 9th for the Texans. Salazar was acquired last winter for CF Bob Francis, from Columbus (Francis broke his kneecap in ST and had a 6 week setback at the end of a 4 month rehab!).

And in somewhat relevant news Mario Martinez propels Vegas to a 12-2 win with 3 homers, 6 RBI's in a 4-4 day. He hit a combined 54 HR's, driving in 145 between AAA/IBL last season.

And in more significant injury news Buffalo loses it's best offensive player for what will likely be the rest of the regular season. Just a game up on 2nd place Brooklyn, they've recalled 25 year old Chih-Hsiung Ba (A Canadian believe it or not) to play Center and moved their OF around, with Angel moving to LF.

Their odds were slim already, but if Columbus had hoped to catch the Iron Pigs the Tanner injury puts a huge crimp in that possibility.

[gehrig38]

Buffalo has gone 7-5 to Brooklyn's 6-6 to gain a game in the Empire.

Chicago's 7-6 gave Columbus an opening but they've gone just 8-5.

10-2 in our last 12 has helped the lead over Edmonton (6-6) from .5 to 4.5.

West Michigan's 9-4 opened their lead from 7.5 over New Hampshire to 10.5 over Michigan as the Fisher Cats went 5-7.

Philly's picked up a game, the Bulldogs 2 on Boston.

El Paso is keeping Houston at arms length.

Sacramento has gone 5-7, and since being 7.5 up LA has gone 9-3 to move to 3.5 back.

Las Vegas has gone 9-3 and went from 5.5 in back of Dallas to pass them as the Texans fell off a cliff, going 3-9 in the same stretch.

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 22
RECORD: 6-0
OVERALL: 86-47 +7.5
RUNS SCORED: 718 (36) 6th
RUNS AGAINST: 537 (13) 1st (13 in 6 games!)
OWNER/FANS: Very Happy 64/100
SCHEDULE: 3 @ Dayton/Off Day/3 vs Michigan

8/23
ALK 9 DAY 2
W-Bowman (1-0) L-Warner (9-11)
HR ALK-Walton (10) Garcia (3)
2025 2nd overall pick Mike Bowman got his 1st IBL win with a 5-5-2-2-3-5 outing as the offense beat starter Tom Warner for 5 runs in just 2/3rds of an inning. Kevin Olson went 3-4 with a stolen base (29) and Christian Holland continued his strong rookie campaign with a 3-5 2 run day with a double (11). Mike Walton went 3-5 with a double (27) homer and 6 RBI's (53).

STREAKS-Ben Beard laced a 3rd inning single en route to a 2-4 day, extending his record hitting streak to 35 games.

8/24
ALK 6 DAY 2
W-O'Neil (10-5) L-Watson (4-11)
HR NONE
Chet O'Neil got into the 9th before tiring, but was outstanding in an 8-9-2-2-1-5 outing. Kevin Olson remained hot, going 4-5 with a double (27) SB (30) and Pedro Lopez drove in 2 (82) And stole his 15th.

STREAKS-Beard had an RBI single in the 5th in a 3-5 day. His streak is now at 36 games.

8/25
ALK 6 DAY 0
W-Buckley (15-8) L-S.Martinez (4-3)
HR ALK-Garcia (4)
Gerald Buckley tosses his 2nd career CG shutout in a 4-hit 9 K effort. Enrique Garcia goes 2-4 with a homer and 3 RBI's (55).

STREAKS-Ben Beard singled in the 1st in a 2-5 day to extend his streak to 37 games. Teammate Phil Paul went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 20 games in an 11-1 win.

8/26
Off Day
Lucky 38! Beard goes 2-5 with a 1B and a HR in a 7-5 loss to make the streak 38 straight.

8/27
ALK 2 MICH 1
W-Hall (13-8) L-Quezada (9-7) S-Casas (38)
HR NONE
Of course, no HR's. Michigan is on some sort of record pace for HR's as an offense, and Stan Hall has been crushed by the long ball, so he punches out 11, gives up no HR's and takes a 6-hit shutout into the 9th before tiring and needing Casas to get the final out. Garcia stays hot, going 3-4 with a double (14) and Harrell (74) and Holland (31) drive in the runs.

STREAKS! Who is Ben Beard??? Well he's now the pride of Liberty Tech Magnet HS in Jackson, Tennessee. He's also a former Alaska Avalanche minor league player who was released in 2020. At 6'4' 240 lbs he's go almost no pop, but he can handle the bat (obviously).



8/28
ALK 8 MICH 5
W-Hernandez (16-5) L-Machado (8-12) S-Casas (39)
HR MICH-Gomez (35) Rios (13) ALK-Olson (11) Harrell (21) Lopez (25)
Kevin Olson homers and drives in 4 (58) and Bob Harrell drives in 3 (77) with his 21st as Carlos Hernandez goes 6-7-4-4-2-9 to win his 16th.

STREAKS-Ben Beard becomes the 1st player in IBL history, at any level, to hit in 40 consecutive games. His 1st inning single (in a 4-5 day) extended the streak.

8/29
ALK 5 MICH 3
W-Sheppard (6-3) L-Ortiz (5-4) S-Carlson (2)
HR MICH-Stuart (30) ALK-Edwards (13) Walton (11)
Mike Walton's tie breaking 3 run homer in the 9th was the game winner as Mike Bowman went 7-3-2-2-3-7 in his 2nd IBL start. Combing with Sheppard, Alexander (H6) and Carlson (S2) on a 4-hitter.

STREAKS-Let the news speak for itself. (he was the POTW btw)

WEEK 22 SUMMARY
FL POTW-Manny Ramirez (NY) 8-21 4 HR's 10 RBI's (.305-25-93)
CL POTW-Mark Warren (EP) 11-25 2 HR's 8 RBI's (.348-5-50)

MINORS POTW
PIT 2 SJ 2 LV CHI 2 TUL DAY SAC NO BRO

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Chicago (2)
3) Buffalo (4)
4) El Paso (-)
5) West Michigan (3)
OUT Columbus (11) 4 of the top 5 in the FL

[gehrig38]

minors potm

hitters
chi sac lv col no 2 tul ny mich bro 2 edm

pitchers
prov 2 buf sj no si cc chi bro ny haw dal

[gehrig38]

2027 WEEK 23
RECORD: 5-2
OVERALL: 91-49 +10.5
RUNS SCORED: 758 (40) 5th
RUNS AGAINST: 561 (24) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Delighted 64/100
SCHEDULE: 3 vs New Hampshire/3 vs Staten Island/1 @ Arizona

8/30
ALK 8 NH 3
W-O'Neil (11-5) L-Pennington (10-13)
HR NH-Cotton (14) ALK-Young (3) Walton 2 (13)
Mike Young doubled (29) homered and drove in 4 (49) and Mike Walton hit 2 solo homers as Chet O'Neil went 6.2-7-3-3-1-4 for the win.

MINORS-Sure 17 k's is an amazing night, but it happens in the minors more than the majors for obvious reasons. I noted this one for one reason, Palmer struck out the 17 hitters in 6.1 IP, so 17 of 19 outs were K's. He was a 13th rounder by LA in 2026.



8/31
NH 10 ALK 6
W-Lou (9-3) L-Buckley (15-9) S-Rowan (20)
HR NH-Carranza (12) Cotton (15) ALK-Harrell (22) Walton (14)
Buckley (3-9-6-6-0-2) had nothing and the New Hampshire offense scored 10 on 15 hits led by Ben Woods' 4-5 2B (24) and Jeff Cottons' 4-5 3B (4) HR (15) and 3 RBI's (65). Juan Carranza went 3-4 with a double (12) homer and 3 RBI's (54).

MINORS-The Bulldogs have recalled Ben Beard, but not before he added to the streak...



NUMBERS-Nice way for Artie Johnson to notch 200. His 20th career shutout (2nd all time) and just the 2nd IBL pitcher to record 200 victories (Vincent Romero 209)



SEPTEMBER CALL UPS- Relievers Eric Gore, Bobby White, C Luke Stover are recalled, Eagan is in 1st place but I am more concerned right now with knowing who's who as this organization moves forward, than a AAA title. The team still has more than enough to do it. Also Antonio Gozalez (rule 5) is taken off his rehab and recalled off the 60 day DL. 1B and now big power prospect Cole Martin is rewarded for a great AA/AAA season by being added and recalled too. INF Patrick Hamilton and a few more arms could be called up at the end of their playoffs.

9/1
NH 6 ALK 1
W-Portsmouth (9-5) L-Hall (13-9)
HR NH-Soto (26) Woods (8)
Stan Hall (5.2-6-4-4-2-2) had his day end in the 6th with a blister that'll be DtD for the next week or so. Jimmy Portsmouth went 9-6-1-1-1-5 in the 115 pitch CG. Ben Woods drove in 2 (40) with a double (25) and a homer (8).

MINORS NEWS-AA Kodiak has made the post season.

9/2
ALK 9 SI 0
W-Hernandez (17-5) L-Arnold (7-16)
HR ALK-Edwards (14) Cannon (23) Lopez (26)
Carlos Hernandez goes 6-3-0-0-5-6 to win his 17th and gets 9 runs on 11 hits of support. Pedro Lopez was 2-5 with a double (20) homer and 3 RBI's (87) and Matt Edwards went 1-3 with a homer and 3 RBI's (46).

9/3
ALK 7 SI 3
W-Bowman (2-0) L-Naif (10-15)
HR ALK-Harrell (23) Walton (15) Covington (8) Stover (2)
Mike Bowman went 6-6-3-3-3-7 and got 3 scoreless from Alexander and Erik Gore as the offense hit 4 homers. Harrell went 2-2 with 2 RBI's (81) and Kevin Olson was 2-3, scoring twice.

9/4
ALK 5 SI 1
W-O'Neil (12-5) L-Poe (6-8)
HR NONE
O'Neil went 7-7-1-1-1-7 to move to 12-5 3.91 (8-2 4.26 in 11 starts since the trade) and Christian Holland had 2 hits and scored twice, and Luke Stover went 2-4 with an RBI (10).

MILESTONES-Another 200 game winner. All 200 wins with the Knights for the kid from the Bronx. He was their 1st pick (2nd overall) out of the University of Arizona in the 2014 draft. He's a 5 time all star who is also the IBL's career strikeout leader at 2888.



200 WINS BY AGE:
Jesus Romano (34 years 190 days)
Artie Johnson (35 years 46 days)
Vicente Romero (38 years 189 days)

9/5
ALK 4 AZ 1
W-Buckley (16-9) L-Thomas (5-10) S-Casas (40)
HR ALK-Gonzalez (16)
Another strong start, this time Gerald Buckley goes 7-6-1-1-1-5 to move to 16-9 3.05 while Rattler SP Bryan Thomas scatters 10 hits in a CG loss. Antonio Gonalez hit a 2 run homer and Mike Walton went 2-3. Cole Martin was hurt in the 2nd, no word on the extent yet.

WEEK 23 SUMMARY
FL POTW- Chester Walters (CHI) 15-26 4 HR's 9 RBI's (.291-24-107)
CL POTW-Jerry Bond (FRE) 12-23 6 HR's 14 RBI's (.280-26-94)

MINORS POTW
MICH HAW

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) Buffalo (3)
3) Chicago (2)
4) Brooklyn (-)
5) Las Vegas (-)
OUT El Paso (6) West Michigan (7)

IBL CAREER LEADER: TOTAL BASES
5090 Curt Whimster (BUF)
4105 Luis Chavez (CHI)
4051 Jeff Hudson (CHI)
3968 Gerald Wright RET
3959 Hugh Collins (CC) Just signed this past week with the Hooks.

NEWS/NOTES
SP prospect David Rodgers was recalled to take Stan Hall's start. He's still ailing for a few more days and there will be no taking chances with the ace, and the IBL's best post season pitcher of all time.