A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL, 2019-2119)

[Izz]

2043/2044 Season - November

Notable Performances

1 Nov: Wellington’s win streak ended at 10.

4 Nov: Steven Kadow was sensational for the Crocs, allowing only 2 baserunners while striking out 10, to lead Cairns to a 10-0 beating of the Thunder.

4 Nov: Angelo Brewster hit a 2-run walk off double to help the Fury overcome the Cavalry 11-10. It was his 3rd double in a 5-6 outing.

5 Nov: Alastair Mildren slugged HR #400 today! It came in a 5-2 loss to Christchurch. He was closing in fast on Rees, whose shortened swing was turning him into a punchy singles hitter.

6 Nov: Ian Zglinicki allowed 6 hits and 2 walks, recording 2 strikeouts for the Fury against the Heat. More importantly, he didn’t allow any runs, seeing Wellington to a convincing 7-0 victory.

11 Nov: Auckland SS Bill Makepeace dominated Brisbane in a 5-5 performance which included 2 doubles and a HR. The Metros cavorted to a 13-2 victory.

12 Nov: Up against Whangarei today, Mildren hit his 9th HR of the year in the 1st inning of an eventual 11-4 victory. It was HR #401. Rees was 0-4.

17 Nov: No-hitter!! Richard Avery walked 3 and plunked a batter, but no Cavalry player hit successfully off him. He struck out 6 and Cairns won 6-0.

18 Nov: Mildren slugged HR #402 in a 4-2 win over the Thunder.

20 Nov: The Fury ripped the Sluggers apart 13-3, with Al Merritt having a day to remember, going 5-6.

21 Nov: Manuel Gonzales was 5-5, scoring the go-ahead run, as the Venom prevailed over 5-4 in extra innings. Gonzales’ night included a double and HR.

24 Nov: The Roos thumped the Venom 18-5, but that wasn’t the big news out of the game. Mildren hit HR #403 in the 5th, then went deep again in the 8th to draw level with Rees and Wilkins on 404 career jacks. The game also had an all-in brawl, which saw Venom SP Joshua Cheadle and the Roos backup CF Robert Alcock suspended 5 games each.

27 Nov: Mildren’s solo HR in the 1st inning of a 6-4 win over Adelaide put him in sole possession of 2nd-place on the all-time HR leaderboard with 405. Only 3 more to equal Guerin and 1 after that to own the record himself.

29 Nov: The race to 409 remained interesting, with Rees launching a solo effort in a 5-3 loss to Christchurch, giving him 405 career dingers.

Notable Injuries

8 Nov: Martin Valentin (.322/.359/.587, 8HR) would be missing from the Fury lineup for 5 weeks while he recovered from a fractured finger.

11 Nov: A strained hammy would keep Adam Hunt (.380/.433/.527, 4HR) out of action for at least 5 weeks.

12 Nov: Perth would be without Mark Donoghue (.316/.381/.487, 2HR in 85PA) for 6 weeks thanks to a bone spur in his elbow.

20 Nov: Young-tae Lee (.276/.339/.448, 7HR) faced 6 weeks on the DL after he was diagnosed with a fractured wrist.

26 Nov: Promising young Metro Matt Panther (.254/.343/.403, 5HR) was out for the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. 9 months rest and rehab awaited.

Notable Trades/Signings

19 Nov: 31 y/o Beau Riseley (.278/.333/.392, 4HR) signed a 2-year extension with the Cowboys.

26 Nov: Auckland extended 30 y/o Cain Blenkhorn (6-4, 3.44 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) for 2 more years. The 2nd year was a vesting option.

29 Nov: The Blue Sox and Crocs finalized an interesting deal today. Sydney sent 26 y/o closer Daniel Jervis (1-5, 11 sv) and cash to Cairns in exchange for 2 prospects. The Crocs planned to use Jervis in their rotation.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Another Aces youngster won this month, 24 y/o SS Blair Jones. He was .358/.400/.543, 29-81, with 3 doubles, 4HR, and 7BB.

Hurler of the Month: Wellington closer Jeremy Malone. He went 4-1, with 9 saves, in 15 appearances in November. His ERA was 1.33, his FIP 3.25, and his WHIP 0.69.

Slugger of the Month: Wayne Carson scooped this award for the 2nd month running. In November he had a .367/.426/.578 stat-line, 40-109, with 5 doubles, 6HR, and 8BB. Overall for the year he was .368/.415/.610, with 11HR. He led the league in BA, SLG, OPS, wOBA (.433), hits (84), doubles (18), runs (43), XBH (31), total bases (139), and batter’s WAR (3.5).

Media Watch

Rex Rees: Rees did a candid interview with OotPB TV during the month, on which he talked about all things baseball, from his reworked swing to playing with Ackland again to the all-time HR crown.

On his swing: “Yeah, it definitely looks different this year, doesn’t it? It looked a bit different last year too, and I’m glad I started working on it before last season. Last year I still felt pretty loose, yeah a bit slower, but my body still felt good. But I decided I needed to revamp things a bit, and I’m happy I started then. If I’d left it until this season it would’ve been a bridge too far because this year I’m feeling my age, and changing everything all at once would’ve just been too hard.”

On how his swing had changed his overall hitting: “I thought about this long and hard, whether I wanted to keep being able to take my cuts, or whether I wanted to still be able to hit for average. I decided average was better for the team. I’m only a little guy, maybe 5’9” if I stand on my tiptoes, so power's not as natural to me as it is to the bigger guys. I guess now maybe I’ve got 10-15 homeruns in me this season if I get the right pitches.”

On how that affected his stated desire to be all-time HR king: “Well, I decided that even if I got there first, there’s no way I hold onto the title for even the season. Alastair’s still got plenty of power in him, and a couple more years in the tank, and he’s been charging hard. To be honest, I think Al’s gonna be 1st to 450 and maybe even to 500. So yeah, while it would be nice to be the guy who breaks Guerin’s record, and I guess I've still got a chance, if I was just up there hacking away I’d probably be shipped off to the minors before long because I’d be hitting about .210.”

On being reunited with Kelvin Ackland: “Awesome. I actually spoke to him during the offseason, and he said he wasn’t a traveler, so the BL didn’t really suit, and he still felt he had something to offer in the AUNZBL. Kelv, he’s not worried about stats, he just loves to play. Anyway, I mentioned him to Coop (new manager Cooper Jacobs), and maybe he put a word in for him to Keith (new GM Keith Shanahan), because suddenly he’s there at BP. It sure was a nice surprise. It’s great having him around, and we’re bouncing ideas off each other all the time, the two old guys trying to hang on in a young man’s game.”

In November, Rees, who turned 38 at the end of October, hit .300/.376/.378, 27-101, with 4 doubles and 1HR plus 10BB. He was .315/.403/.402 on the year, with 2469 career hits and 405 career HRs. He also had a chance this season to score his 1400th run (1373 currently), and draw his 1300th walk (1256 currently).

Alastair Mildren: Odds-on favourite to break Guerin’s record, though not the people's favourite. Mildren hit .282/.363/.473 in the month, 6 of his 31 hits HRs. He too had 405 career HRs and was currently tracking to finish the year on 429.

Other Notes

Southwest Division: The Prospects (19-9) made up for their slow October to leap 5 games ahead in the Southwest, with the Cavalry (7-21) having an awful month to slide from 1st to last. Only Hobart were above .500 in this division.

Northeast Division: Cairns (14-14) held onto their lead, holding steady at 2 games ahead of the Roos (14-14).

NZ Division: The Fury (21-7) continued their merry charge, recording their 2nd 20-win month in a row. The Cowboys (20-8) roared into 2nd, 6 games back, while Auckland (17-11) were 10 games back but still 7 games above .500. The Sluggers (11-17) dropped below .500.

Wildcard: This was all Cowboys at the moment, with Auckland trailing by 4 and the Roos by 7.

#

Ramiro Madrigal (.231/.376/.379, 7HR) led the league in walks, having drawn 46 so far, 5 more than next-best Brock Wakely (.282/.407/.510, 11HR).

Joel Hopewell (.297/.393/.569, 17HR) led the HR race, while Connor Rowling (.295/.363/.570, 14HR) had the best isolated power, with .275.

Christchurch’s Allan Koka (9-1, 2.82 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 0.95 WHIP) led the league in wins and WHIP.

Sterling Dunlop (7-2, 2.93 ERA, 2.40 FIP, 1.19 WHIP) had a league-best FIP, had the most Ks (77), and the best K/9 (9.41).

Richard Avery (6-6, 3.29 ERA, 2.73 FIP, 1.13 WHIP) of the Crocs was only allowing 0.21 HR/9 and had the best pitcher’s WAR, with 3.3.

William Colcott continued to lead the league in successful saves, with 20.

Standings, Dec 1

[Izz]

2043/2044 Season - December

2042 #1 Draft Pick

The Aces had this year’s 1st draft pick and they went with 19 y/o high-school baller Rob Lane. He was an organization’s dream pick, noted for having a high work ethic, high desire to win, strong loyalty and very strong leadership qualities. He also apparently wasn’t greedy. However, intangibles weren’t why the Aces picked him. An average outfielder, Lane projected to be an excellent hitter, with plus power and great swing mechanics. He still needed plenty of time to develop, and his 1st stop was with the Aces' rookie league team.

A quick look at how the previous 4 #1 draft picks were doing:

2042: Sean Carr. Having only just turned 19, Carr looked set to begin the year in the Thunder’s rookie-league affiliate again. In 2042 he hit .390/.468/.537 at that level, so it was unlikely he’d be in rookie-ball long this season.

2041: Jack Hale finished 2042 in the majors, even making the Blue Sox postseason squad, where he played a regular role in both the Division Finals and Championship Series, hitting 2HR. He stayed in the majors to start the 2043 season, and was hitting .224/.290/.353 in 42 games to-date. He now looked likely to be a low-average, good-OBP guy.

2040: Jacob Blanksby won the single-A Slugger of the Year in 2042, finishing up the season at AAA. He started 2043 batting cleanup for the Aces, and didn’t look out of place in the majors, hitting .277/.362/.513, with 11HR, through 53 games.

2039: Lindsay Colson was a regular in the Cairns’ lineup, though he hadn’t yet replicated his 2041 form. So far this season he was hitting .251/.320/.449, with 11HR, in 59 games. He also appeared to have transformed himself from a player teammates viewed as arrogant to a popular presence in the clubhouse.

Notable Performances

1 Dec: The Roos lost their 3rd on the trot to division rivals Cairns, but Mildren still had a reason to celebrate. He hit career jack #406 to put him back ahead of Rees on the all-time leaderboard. He only needed 3 more to make top spot his own.

2 Dec: Juan de los Santos was the spark that helped the Heat to a 10-8 victory over Sydney. He was 5-5, with 1 double, driving in 2 and scoring 3 times.

7 Dec: Rees drew level once again on the career HR board with Mildren, hitting #406 in a 7-2 victory over Canberra.

7 Dec: In this same game, Kelvin Ackland went 3-4, his 2-rbi single in the 6th marking his 2900th career hit.

10 Dec: Bailey Pugsley was 5-6 in Newcastle’s 9-1 triumph over Melbourne.

12 Dec: Rees’ 2-run HR in the 4th was instrumental in helping Whangarei chase down and eventually overcome a 7-run deficit against the Thunder to win 9-8. It was also HR #407, putting him 1 shy of Guerin and 1 ahead of Mildren.

13 Dec: Mildren went 3-4 today to take his BA above .300 but all 3 hits were singles. On the other hand, Rees only had 1 hit in 3 at-bats in a 3-1 loss to the Thunder. That 1 hit, though, in the bottom of the 9th, was a HR. He now had 408 career HRs, equal at the top with Guerin.

14 Dec: Wayne Carson’s hot 2043 was continuing. Today he went 5-6, including 2 doubles and a triple, to help Auckland demolish Sydney 23-7. He drove in 5 and scored 4 times. The rampage took his BA to .395 for the year.

18 Dec: Mildren broke a 15-game dry spell with a solo HR in the 9th inning of a 7-5 win over Brisbane, putting him on 407 career HRs.

22 Dec: The AUNZBL had a new career HR king! While the Sluggers went down 4-3 to the Venom, Rees had plenty of reason to rejoice. He led off the bottom of the 6th with a mighty linedrive over left centre and long before the ball landed 425 feet away, in the upper tier of the stand, the Whangarei crowd were on their feet. Rees did a slow lap of the bases, shook the hands of all the Venom infielders, was embraced by his teammates and had to come out of the dugout 3 times before the crowd settled down. After the game he admitted, “Yeah, I’ve been taking my hacks a bit, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. I doubt I’ll hold the record long, but I’m going to enjoy having my name there at number 1 as much as I can.”

22 Dec: Justin Blake went 5-6 as the Bandits knocked off the Cavalry 14-6.

25 Dec: Mildren launched HR #408 today in a 7-3 win over Perth.

28 Dec: Mildren’s 2-run HR in a 6-2 win over the Cowboys put him equal with Rees at the top of the all-time HR ladder.

28 Dec: Harry Hancock celebrated his All Star squad inclusion by going 5-6, with 2 doubles, in an 18-2 win over Melbourne.

28 Dec: Quentin Stennings went 5-5, but couldn’t lift his Fury to victory. They went down 9-7 to Canberra.

29 Dec: With his 2nd single in a 9-3 win over Adelaide, Patrick Gulledge joined the 2000 hit club.

Notable Injuries

12 Dec: The Heat would be without SP Stewart Webber (4-5, 3.38 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) for the rest of the season. He needed surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow.

20 Dec: Bailey Pugsley (.339/.366/.427) would sit out 3 weeks with a sprained ankle.

23 Dec: Venom SP Roderick Ratcliffe (3-4, 3.74 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.08 WHIP) got news that his 2043 season, and probably much of his 2044 season, was over. He’d torn a rotator cuff and early estimates were 13 months recovery time, minimum.

28 Dec: Rees hurt his ankle the day the All Star teams were announced. He had been slated to start at 2B. He would be out for 2 weeks and when he came back it was highly likely Mildren would be the all-time HR leader.

28 Dec: Roos catcher Leo Jiang (.259/.368/.386, 5HR) would be out 6 weeks with shoulder tendinitis.

31 Dec: Hobart got a double injury blow today. First, Bob Goldsmith (.284/.359/.463, 13HR) was diagnosed with a torn meniscus and would miss 4 weeks. Then...

31 Dec: ...All Star Jing-zhong Ling (see stats in All Star section below) was told he needed Tommy John surgery. He faced 12 months out of the game.

Notable Trades/Signings

6 Dec: 29 y/o Bruno Watters (7-2, 2.81 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) was off to Newcastle from Cairns, with the Crocs getting 28 y/o CF Travis Bright (.228/.294/.360, 41HR) and a prospect.

2041 All Stars

Australian All Stars

SP Luke Bodkin - HOB - 10-3, 2.45 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 0.97 WHIP
SP Allan Koka - CHR - 12-1, 2.87 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.01 WHIP
SP Richard Avery - CAI - 10-6, 3.59 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 1.18 WHIP
SP Jing-zhong Ling - HOB - 11-4, 3.18 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.18 WHIP
SP Ted Murray - CAI - 8-3, 3.36 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.30 WHIP
SP Xing-hua Ling - SYD - 9-4, 4.31 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.47 WHIP
SP Adam Geoghegan - PER - 5-7, 3.86 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.43 WHIP
MR Jun Chin - HOB - 1-0, 4 sv, 1.91 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 0.90 WHIP
CL William Colcott - CAI - 2-3, 28 sv, 2.61 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.37 WHIP
CL Jeremy Malone - WEL - 7-3, 23 sv, 3.15 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.12 WHIP
CL Brendan Dwyer - ADE - 4-2, 17 sv, 2.73 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 1.12 WHIP
CL Arnold Ladd - NEW - 2-1, 16 sv, 1.54 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 0.91 WHIP
C Jacob Blanksby - MEL - .269/.371/.486, 13HR
1B Alastair Mildren - NEW - .292/.365/.483, 16HR
1B Bernie Grinter - CHR - .301/.385/.504, 11HR
1B Patrick Gulledge - SYD - .295/.365/.493, 13HR
2B Connor Rowling - HOB - .296/.358/.530, 17HR
3B Brock Wakely - CHR - .287/.408/.522, 17HR
3B Bill Makepeace - AUC - .286/.350/.498, 13HR
3B Wan-ling Tan - MEL - .284/.347/.495, 17HR
SS Mike Wurfel - AUC - .323/.359/.508, 10HR
SS Zong-ming Hung - CAI - .288/.382/.427, 6HR
LF Joel Hopewell - CAN - .250/.357/.486, 21HR
LF Beau Riseley - CHR - .302/.349/.433, 8HR
CF Adrian McHugh - ADE - .272/.306/.528, 18HR
RF Wayne Carson - AUC - .377/.422/.629, 16HR
RF Pi-ao Ming - HOB - .298/.330/.536, 14HR
RF Hong-bin Bao - BRI - .294/.374/.460, 10HR

NZ & Overseas All Stars

SP Sterling Dunlop - WHA - 9-2, 2.51 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 1.22 WHIP
SP Karl Bell - WEL - 11-1, 1.98 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 0.98 WHIP
SP Takashi Takeuchi - AUC - 8-7, 3.59 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.27 WHIP
SP Ian Zglinicki - WEL - 7-4, 2.71 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.21 WHIP
SP Bruno Watters - NEW - 9-3, 2.83 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.24 WHIP
SP Jose Carrillo - CEN - 9-6, 3.64 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.12 WHIP
SP Edward Delaney - SYD - 11-3, 3.49 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.25 WHIP
MR Arthur Hammer - CEN - 2-3, 2 sv, 2.61 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.18 WHIP
MR Neil Helmrich - NEW - 2-0, 3.48 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
CL Brodie Backhouse - HOB - 1-2, 21 sv, 1.87 ERA, 1.24 FIP, 0.98 WHIP
CL Mario Hernandez - CHR - 1-4, 26 sv, 2.66 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 0.81 WHIP
CL Mauro Contreras - AUC - 1-3, 21 sv, 3.78 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.11 WHIP
C Andre Canavan - SYD - .311/.334/.488, 10HR
C Angelo Brewster - WEL - .287/.371/.441, 5HR
C Danny Goodwin - HOB - .305/.351/.432, 6HR
1B Justin Blake - BRI - .336/.375/.538, 14HR
1B Dean Warner - CEN - .288/.359/.449, 12HR
1B Ashley Snijders - CAN - .277/.378/.439, 10HR
2B Rex Rees - WHA - .302/.388/.420, 6HR
2B Vinnie Widdison - CAN - .311/.348/.497, 14HR
2B Anthony Vanrenen - CHR - .287/.336/.348, 2HR
3B Magali Alcova - BRI - .278/.345/.431, 6HR
SS Stephen Gilleland - SYD - .291/.391/.495, 10HR
LF Richard Lewis - AUC - .301/.382/.415, 5HR
CF Harry Hancock - AUC - .243/.322/.387, 9HR
CF Bartolo Gonzales - HOB - .245/.370/.441, 11HR
RF Carlos Maldonado - SYD - .278/.312/.462, 9HR
RF Olivier Despres - WEL - .253/.325/.402, 7HR

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 26 y/o Croc Bruce Baker. The 3B was .313/.389/.458 in December, 30-96, with 5 doubles, 3HR and 8BB.

Hurler of the Month: Luke Bodkin. 4-2 in 6 starts, with a 1.42 ERA, 2.21 FIP, and 0.90 WHIP. He struck out 39 in 44.1 innings. His season’s 0.96 WHIP was a league-best.

Slugger of the Month: Wayne Carson for the 3rd month running. He went .416/.464/.703 in December, 42-101, with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 6HR, 8BB and 4 stolen bases. For the year he was .383/.431/.638, with 17HR. He led the league in nearly every category: BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, wOBA (.449), hits (126), doubles (25), RBI (70), runs (70), ISO (.255), XBH (46), TB (210), and batter’s WAR (5.7).

Other Notes

Southwest Division: Hobart (18-11) had increased their division lead to 8 games, with no other team above .500.

Northeast Division: Cairns (17-12) continued to lead the Northeast, now 3 games ahead of Newcastle (16-13). The Thunder (17-12) had pulled themselves up to .500.

NZ Division: Wellington (15-14) finally had a par month, but still found themselves 8 games ahead. Auckland (17-12) had climbed into 2nd, with the Cowboys (12-17) sliding into 3rd.

Wildcard: The Metros led the Cowboys by 1 game in this race, with the Roos 4 games back and the Thunder 6.

#

21 y/o Wellington rookie Christos ‘Demo’ Hutchinson (.281/.318/.364, 0HR) led the league in steals, with 22, and was equal top in triples (7).

Cairns SP Steven Kadow (8-7, 4.57 ERA, 4.51 FIP, 1.41 WHIP) had overpowering stuff, conceding a league-best 6.38 H/9 and .200 OAVG, but often struggled to hit his spots, walking a league-most 80 batters in 114.1 IP.

Standings, Jan 1

[Izz]

January 8th, 2044

On this day in 2044, the Australian government passed a bill through final reading and approval that slightly relaxed travel restrictions to North America. It appeared the continual conflicts that'd raged since the end of The War were finally beginning to settle, with the North American continent looking much more like the South American continent in terms of nations.

What was even more noteworthy to the baseball fan and historian was that organized baseball was taking place in North America.

While Australian baseball scouts had been permitted to travel - under heavy escort - through North America the entire time the AUNZBL had been in operation, for the last 10 years they'd been greatly restricted in what they were allowed to say about their experiences. But along with the relaxed travel conditions came an amendment to the Official Secrets act, meaning anybody who had traveled through North America was now allowed to spill whatever they wanted.

Of course, information about the state of the continent flooded the media. Amongst that was the news that there were several organized baseball competitions flourishing in the United States. Nonchalantly, the AUNZBL commissioner's office let slip that they were very much interested in unifying these competitions, if it were so possible both financially and politically, with the aim of developing another league like the BL. Doing so would take several years, but the AUNZBL were very hopeful of seeing a strong North American baseball competition again.

[Izz]

2043/2044 Season - January

Notable Performances

2 Jan: It only took 1 game in January for Mildren to take the outright career HR lead. His solo effort in the 3rd inning of a 7-6 victory over Auckland put him on 410 career HRs. With Rees still at least a week off returning to the Sluggers lineup, Mildren had some time to put a bit of space between them.

3 Jan: Auckland’s backup SS Eddie Larcombe went 5-6 today, helping the Metros knock out the Roos 12-1.

4 Jan: With his 1st hit in a 2-4 night, Richard Lewis reached 2000 career hits. That hit was also his 100th for the season

5 Jan: Patrick Gulledge whacked 3HRs today, to help Sydney get up 8-4 over the Crocs. All 3 of his HRs were 2-run efforts. He also singled to have a memorable 4-5 night, driving in 6 of Sydney’s 8 runs.

7 Jan: Hobart’s Cam Welch shut out the Blue Sox on the back of 4 hits, 4 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Hobart won 7-0.

8 Jan: Cody Wood allowed just 4 hits and 2 walks, fanning 9, to lead Newcastle to a 5-0 shutout victory over Whangarei.

9 Jan: Mildren’s 2HR tonight put him 3 clear of Rees, who was due back in 3 days. Mildren’s dingers came against Whangarei, too, to help Newcastle scrape to a 5-4 victory.

10 Jan: Mildren went deep again tonight, to give him 413 career HRs, and 21 for the season, putting him only 1 back in the 2043 HR race.

11 Jan: Adrian McHugh hit for the cycle in an 8-2 Venom victory over Hobart. He did it in order too, going single, double, triple, HR, ground out.

11 Jan: Guo-liang Liang went 5-5 for the Thunder as they overcame the Roos 6-3.

16 Jan: Takashi Takeuchi kept the Heat cold, restricting them to 5 hits and 1 walk and striking out 5 in an 8-0 shutout win.

17 Jan: Auckland made it 2 shutout victories in a row, with Stephen Snell allowing only 4 hits in a strong outing. He struck out 6 and the Metros beat the Heat 7-0.

19 Jan: The Metros won their 10th on the trot, to pull within 3 games of the NZ Division-leading Fury.

20 Jan: Edward Delaney looked a chance to become the 1st pitcher to win 20 games in a season twice, and his outing today against the Bandits wouldn’t have his hurt his confidence any. The 35 y/o allowed 6 hits and 1 walk to lead Sydney to a 4-0 shutout victory. He struck out 3.

21 Jan: Auckland’s win streak was snapped at 11.

25 Jan: Rex Rees became the 3rd player to reach the 2500 hit mark, bringing up the milestone with a 7th-inning single in a 3-1 loss to Christchurch.

Notable Injuries

1 Jan: Wan-ling Tan (.284/.348/.495, 17HR) should’ve been enjoying playing his 1st All Star Game. Instead, he spent the morning with the team doctors, receiving the news he’d fractured his thumb and would be out 3-4 weeks. He did make it to the game, suiting up and joining the injured brigade in the dugout.

4 Jan: Harry Hancock (.263/.359/.419, 11HR) limped off the field against Newcastle, to be diagnosed with a badly sprained ankle. He would be out until early March.

17 Jan: League-leading HR-hitter Joel Hopewell (.251/.356/.489, 24HR) would sit out the next 3-4 weeks with hamstring tendinitis. The layoff might prove fatal to his hopes of taking home the HR crown this season.

20 Jan: The Blue Sox were surging, but the loss of Craig Hardy (.295/.368/.403, 3HR) for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff wouldn’t help their cause.

25 Jan: Young-tae Lee (.288/.345/.472, 9HR in 232PA) was having a really injury-disrupted season. This time he would miss 6 weeks with a partially torn labrum. This would be his 3rd stint on the DL in 2043.

31 Jan: Dean Warner (.303/.370/.455, 15HR) would miss most of February after he tore ligaments in his ankle.

Notable Trades/Signings

24 Jan: The Metros acquired 26 y/o CL Jose Cruz (0-2, 21 sv) and some cash from Perth in return for a minor league prospect. Cruz would go into a setup role in the Metros bullpen.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 19 y/o Ismael Aguirre was signed by the Thunder as an international amateur in 2041. He bypassed their international complex and went straight into rookie ball. In 2042 he played a full season of short-A, and in 2043 made the Thunder’s top 25 even though he only had an average spring. In January, the 6’5” 1B went .265/.309/.487, 30-113, with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 5HR and 7BB.

Hurler of the Month: Edward Delaney was 6-0 in January, a big reason for the Blue Sox’s strong month. He had a 2.20 ERA, 3.42 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP. He recorded 27 strikeouts in 49.0 IP. He was 17-4 on the year, equal-top on wins, and looking very likely to win 20 in back-to-back seasons. His 179.1 IP were the most of any AUNZBL pitcher.

Slugger of the Month: Wayne Carson didn’t make it 4 months in a row, but he wouldn’t have been too upset as this award went to teammate Mike Wurfel. In January he was .384/.444/.589, 43-112, with 8 doubles, 5HR, 8BB and 2SB.

Last Year’s Top Players Watch

2042’s Top Rookies

2042 Rookie of the Year, Quentin Stennings: Having a 2nd year similar to his 1st. .280/.342/.463, 120-428, 60 runs, 25 doubles, 1 triple, 17HR, 57RBI, 27BB, 471PA. Had a 5-hit game in December.

Bob Goldsmith: Was injured for most of January, but still having a good season. .288/.362/.470, 95-330, 54 runs, 16 doubles, 1 triple, 14HR, 50RBI, 32BB, 1SB, 373PA.

Eddie Chambers: 5-6 from 22 starts, 4.14 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.40 WHIP, 88 K from 119.2 IP.

2042’s Top Pitchers

2042 Hurler of Year, Edward Delaney: On track for another great season (see month stats in Awards section, above). 17-4 from 24 starts, 3.26 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 127 K in 179.1 IP.

Takashi Takeuchi: There or thereabouts as he always seemed to be. 11-8 from 23 starts, 3.99 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 99 K from 151.0 IP.

Mitch Pankhurst: Coming back down to Earth after last season. 7-9 from 24 starts, 4.90 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.35 WHIP, 135 K from 165.1 IP.

2042’s Top Hitters

2042 Slugger of the Year, Pi-ao Ming: Missed 3 weeks at the end of October - beginning of November, but otherwise tracking nicely. .323/.365/.548, 118-365, 63 runs, 22 doubles, 3 triples, 18HR, 52RBI, 26BB, 8SB, 394PA.

Brock Wakely: .282/.390/.494, 117-415, 68 runs, 23 doubles, 1 triple, 21HR, 74RBI, 71BB, 492PA.

Richard Lewis: A slow 1st half, but showing signs of picking up steam to finish the season. .313/.409/.445, 132-422, 93 runs, 26 doubles, 6 triples, 6HR, 50RBI, 71BB, 14SB, 501PA.

Other Notes

Southwest Division: The Prospects (19-9) continued to extend their lead in the Southwest, now ahead of the Venom (15-13) by 12, Adelaide having climbed up to .500 by the end of Jan.

Northeast Division: The Crocs (14-14) stayed ahead in the Northeast, but the Blue Sox (19-9) were now snapping at their heels, only 2 games back. The Roos (13-15) were 4 games off the pace, and the Thunder (14-14) a further game back.

NZ Division: The unthinkable happened in January, with Auckland (22-6) leapfrogging the Fury (13-15) into 1st place by month’s end. The Cowboys (9-19) stuttered along, in danger of dropping below .500 if they continued their struggles.

Wildcard: Right now this was just a race between the top 2 NZ division teams, with whoever missed the pennant likely to grab the wildcard. Right now, Wellington had a 10-game advantage over Sydney, with Newcastle 12 games back, and the Venom, Thunder and Cowboys a further game behind.

#

Wayne Carson (.376/.432/.605, 19HR) started January slow, but finished in a rush, continuing to dominate the batting leaderboards. He led in BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, wOBA (.436), hits (160), RBI (93), XBH (53), TB (257), and batter’s WAR (6.5).

Veteran Rich Bannon (.303/.342/.471, 11HR) was working hard to show his 32 y/o body still had plenty to offer. He led the league in doubles, having hit 30 up to this point.

Mildren (.292/.364/.500, 25HR) had taken the HR lead by the end of the month, leading the field by 1.

Ramiro Madrigal (.240/.390/.418, 14HR) had racked up an impressive 95 BB by February 1st, on track to go close to the season record he already held, of 137.

Both Delaney and Ronald DeJong (17-4, 3.83 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.19 WHIP) looked on course for 20-win seasons.

Sterling Dunlop (11-5, 2.91 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) continued to lead the league in FIP, as well as in HR/9 (0.46), K/9 (9.46) and pitcher’s WAR (4.8).

William Colcott had 34 saves, still a league-best, though several other pitchers were closing in.

Standings, Feb 1

[Izz]

2043/2044 Season - February

Notable Performances

5 Feb: Jacob Blanksby belted 5-5 for the Aces as they downed the Bandits 7-1. His hits included 2 doubles and a HR.

8 Feb: The Prospects were on a roll, winning their 10th straight.

13 Feb: Hobart’s win streak ended at 13.

16 Feb: Edward Delaney won game #20 for the season. He’d now won his last 9 decisions, to be 20-4 for the year.

21 Feb: The Fury charged to their 10th win in a row. They were still 3 games back in the NZ, the Metros having won their last 5.

25 Feb: The Fury lost, breaking a 12-game win streak.

27 Feb: It was Auckland’s turn to win 10 straight. They would lose the next night.

27 Feb: Ronald DeJong won his 20th game of the season for the Metros.

Notable Injuries

14 Feb: Alan Delaney (.317/.357/.430, 4HR) was likely to miss the rest of the season with a knee sprain.

15 Feb: The Fury, now 4 games back in the NZ, would be without Angelo Brewster (.255/.335/.391, 7HR) for 3 weeks while he dealt with a sprained knee.

16 Feb: Alec Brajak (.304/.359/.503, 19HR) made his 3rd trip to the DL for the season. This time he’d miss 3 weeks due to a strained groin.

28 Feb: Cavalry 2B Vinnie Widdison (.306/.345/.514, 26HR) could book himself an early holiday. He was out the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.

29 Feb: Richard Lewis (.324/.417/.449, 6HR) might not be a huge fan of leap years from now on. He strained his oblique today and would miss 3 weeks of March.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 25 y/o Metros RF Rhett Kelly. A late signing by the Metros to cover a lack of depth in their outfield, Kelly had come up through the Blue Sox organization before becoming eligible for minor league free agency. In February he went .352/.407/.435, 38-108, with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1HR, 10BB and 10SB.

Hurler of the Month: Luke Bodkin picked this one up. He was 4-0 from 5 starts in February, with an ERA of 2.04, an FIP of 3.62, and a WHIP of 1.02. He struck out 37 in 35.1 IP. For the season he had an 18-4 record, led the league in ERA (2.45), WHIP (0.98), Ks (195), and K/BB (4.88).

Slugger of the Month: Pi-ao Ming had a strong month, going .390/.440/.773, 41-105, with 6 doubles, 10HR, and 10BB. For the year he was .338/.382/.589, with 28HR. He’d shot into the league-lead for slugging, isolated power (.251), and batter’s WAR (7.6).

Other Notes

Southwest Division: The Prospects (19-8) continued on their merry way, leading the Venom (17-10) by 14 games.

Northeast Division: The Crocs (16-11) and Blue Sox (15-12) jousted throughout the month, Cairns regaining the division lead thanks to an 8-game win streak to end the month.

NZ Division: The Metros (19-8) extended their lead over the Fury (17-10) by 2 games.

Wildcard: This was Wellington’s to lose, though they would still have their eye on the division prize. They were 12 games ahead of the Blue Sox and 13 ahead of the Venom.

#

Aces’ slugger Jake Mekville (.257/.326/.473, 32HR) had taken the lead in the HR race, leading by 2 at the end of February.

Ramiro Madrigal (.239/.390/.401, 15HR) had smashed through the 100-walk barrier, finishing the month on 117. He had 3 more walks than hits in 2043.

Magali Alcova (.258/.328/.383, 9HR) had 38 stolen bases to lead the league.

With Delaney and DeJong already at 20 wins, there was a chance an unprecedented 4 pitchers would record 20 wins in 2043. Auckland’s Cain Blenkhorn (18-7, 3.50 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) and Luke Bodkin were also on the cusp.

Auckland’s Mauro Contreras had jumped into the saves lead with 42.

Standings, Mar 1

[Izz]

2043/2044 Season - March

Notable Performances

1 Mar: Ted Murray recorded shutout number 6 for his career today, putting him at 9th equal on the all-time list. The 27 y/o allowed just 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 5, to lead Cairns to a 5-0 victory over rivals Sydney.

1 Mar: Rookie Neil Helmrich, pushed recently into the Newcastle rotation, gave up 3 hits and a whopping 7 walks, but no Metro was able to score off him. Newcastle scored the winning run of a 1-0 victory in the bottom of the 9th.

2 Mar: Cairns became the latest team to rattle off 10 wins in a row. The streak would end the next day.

3 Mar: Hobart’s Li Delzoppo was 5-5 as his team thumped the Blue Sox 13-5.

9 Mar: Edward Delaney brought up win #21 for the season with a 5-hit, 1-walk, 5-strikeout shutout of the Aces. Sydney won 5-0.

10 Mar: It took a while, but finally Kelvin Ackland got there. Not to 3000 hits yet; he still needed 27 to reach that mark. No, to 300HRs! HR #299 arrived in the 3rd, when he pulled 1 over the rightfield fence. He got another pitch to pull in the 4th, and it had just enough legs to get over the fence to give him the milestone, scoring 2 runs in the process. He picked up another hit in the 8th to finish the night 3-5. Ackland became the 15th player to reach the 300HR mark, doing so at the age of 39 and 307 days. He even spoke to media after the match, if only to say, “Well, it’s nice to scratch that one off the list.”

10 Mar: Cain Blenkorn became the 3rd pitcher to rack up 20 wins on the season.

12 Mar: The Prospects wrapped up the Southwest, even though they lost 3-2 to Cairns.

14 Mar: The Fury had lost 6 straight to this point, but won today, beating Whangarei 4-1. In so doing, they wrapped up the wildcard race, and still had an outside shot at the NZ division title.

14 Mar: Takashi Takeuchi allowed 7 hits but no walks, striking out 7, to lead the Metros to a 9-0 shutout victory over the Heat.

16 Mar: Wellington’s Kelvin Ziersch restricted the Thunder to 3 hits and 1 walk, striking out 2, to help the Fury win 6-0.

17 Mar: Their 8-6 win over Christchurch brought up Auckland’s 100th win for the season. It also clinched the NZ division for them.

21 Mar: Cairns would be going to the postseason for the 1st time in their history, securing the Northeast Division pennant with a 7-1 downing of Newcastle.

22 Mar: Yue-jiu Chin ended his season on a bright note, shutting down Hobart on the back of 5 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 5, while his Aces free-wheeled their way to a 16-0 victory.

23 Mar: The Aces might’ve gone down 6-5 to the Prospects in their last game of the season, but 25 y/o Aces rookie Blair Morris had a right to feel happy after the game. He went 5-5 to cap an end to an impressive season (he started the year in AA, and finished in the majors).

23 Mar: Xing-hua Ling stormed home in March to win his 20th game of the season on the last day of the season. He’d won his last 4 games to get to this point.

Notable Injuries

5 Mar: Rhett Kelly (.284/.376/.359, 3HR) would miss the rest of the season plus the postseason after fracturing his hand.

21 Mar: The Prospects and Pi-ao Ming (.329/.380/.581, 32HR) were dealt a cruel blow today, with Ming ruled out of the postseason thanks to an oblique strain.

Notable Trades/Signings

17 Mar: Hobart extended 26 y/o Alastair Tierney (.288/.351/.445, 13HR) for 4 years to see him past arbitration.

Other Notes

Wayne Carson had a strong March to end an exceptional year. He finished the regular season hitting .364/.417/.598, with 29HR, to win the batting title. As well as leading the league in BA, he also led it in SLG, OPS, WOBA (.426), hits (220), RBI (131), runs (123), XBH (75), TB (362), and batter’s WAR (8.6). He was the only hitter to reach the 200-hit mark.

Teammate Richard Lewis (.326/.420/.452, 6HR) had his worst season since 2038 but still finished atop the OBP leaderboards.

Another Metro, Mike Wurfel (.344/.401/.525, 21HR), had a career year. He finished 2nd in BA, 3rd in OBP (Metros held the 1st 3 spots), 3rd in SLG, 3rd in OPS, 3rd in wOBA (.395), 2nd in hits (198), 1st in doubles (39), 2nd in RBI (119), 3rd in runs (100), and 4th in batter’s WAR (6.7).

Ramiro Madrigal (.232/.386/.392, 18HR) finished the season with 135BB, 2 short of the season record of 137 he set in 2035, and 1 short of his next-best effort in 2036. He was the only player to draw more than 100 walks in 2043.

An unprecedented 4 pitchers finished the season with 20 or more wins. Auckland’s Ronald DeJong and Cain Blenkhorn finished with 22-apiece, while Blue Sox teammates Delaney and XIng-hua Ling had 21 and 20 respectively.

Luke Bodkin (19-7, 2.58 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.99 WHIP) finished the season with the league’s best ERA, WHIP, K/BB (5.09) and most Ks (224 - tied with Cairns’ strikeout and also walk machine Steven Kadow).

Sterling Dunlop (13-8, 3.10 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 1.20 WHIP), eligible for free agency at season’s end, led the league in FIP, HR/9 (0.46), K/9 (9.38), and pitcher’s WAR (6.7).

Auckland’s Mauro Contreras finished with 46 saves to lead the league in that category. He also had 9 losses against his name.

Standings, EORS

[Izz]

2043 Division Finals - Previews

Cairns Crocs vs Auckland Metros

Cairns: The Crocs were riding the crest of a magnificent wave, having made their 1st postseason ever. And, unlike the Sluggers who reached the postseason in 2039 thanks to the late signings of Mildren and Lewis, they felt they’d done so legitimately, having put together a roster of home-grown talent and hard-fought trade acquisitions.

Cairns had the best overall defense, having conceded the least runs, and the 2nd-best pitching staff. Their offense was middle-of-the-pack, but they were certain they’d get it done when it counted.

Auckland: These Metros were an offensive juggernaut. Boasting 3 players who’d hit over .325 for the season, they’d scored 946 runs during the season, 103 more than the next best, the holiday-bound Blue Sox. They weren’t huge home run hitters, ranking in the lower half of the league, but they got on-base, stole bases (128, tied for 3rd), and generally made life miserable for pitchers (their 87 HBP was a league-high).

Their pitching wasn’t too shabby either. They’d conceded the 3rd least runs, had walked the least hitters, and had two 22-game winners in their rotation. In terms of defense, they had the best fielding % of any team, the 2nd-best ZR behind Cairns, and the 3rd best Defensive Efficiency.

Having won the Championship in 2042 the Metros were, according to 1st-year skipper Vince Dickson, “eager to add a 3rd trophy to the cabinet.”

Regular season matchups: 9-3 Auckland.

Verdict: Metros in a sweep.

#

Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

Wellington: The Fury finished with the 2nd-best regular season record in the league, but thanks to the Metros could only grab a wildcard slot, meaning only 2 home games out of a possible 5. Their hitting was average, ranked 9th overall, though they stole the 2nd most bases (132) and had the 5th most extra-base hits (464).

It was their pitching that got them so far. 2nd overall defensively (by the smallest of margins), they had the league’s best ERA (3.45), and 2nd-best control, walking only 414 batters all season.

Hobart: Last year’s Champions desperately wanted to go back-to-back. The laughing stock of the league until recently (only 1 playoff appearance in their history before 2040), Hobart had certainly shaken off the ‘losers’ tag to be now appearing in their 4th straight postseason. But their owner wanted trophies, and had spent large to retain and attract talent.

They got to the playoffs this season on the back of the league’s 3rd-best offense and 4th-best defense. They had the 3rd-best BA (.273), as well as the 3rd-most HRs (191). They’d allowed the least hits (1319) and had struck out the 2nd most hitters (1156). They would be hampered by the late loss of reigning SotY Pi-ao Ming, who was in contention for another SotY this season.

Regular season matchups: 8-4 Hobart.

Verdict: Hobart in 5.

[Izz]

2043 Division Finals

Game 1 - Cairns Crocs vs Auckland Metros

4 2-out runs in the 4th, including 2 triples, put Auckland ahead 5-2, and 3 runs in the 6th made it 8-2, the final score. Marcello Bond went 4-4 for the Metros, and Takeuchi (7.1IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 5K) outlasted a beat-up Richard Avery (5.2IP, 9H, 8ER, 4BB, 1K). Clint Gordam homered for Cairns.

Game 1 - Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

This one went to extra time. Hobart took a 2-run lead in the 2nd, and Wellington didn’t even the scores until the top of the 9th. In the 11th, aggressive base-running and 4 singles saw them score 3 to go-ahead 5-2. Hobart surrendered on 11 pitches to end the game. Wellington’s Karl Bell (7.2IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 8K) outlasted Bodkin (6.0IP, 7H, 1ER, 1BB, 10K), but it was closer Jeremy Malone who got the W.

Game 2 - Cairns Crocs vs Auckland Metros

Marcello Bond busted this game wide open with a Grand Slam in the bottom of the 7th, stretching the score to 8-2. A 2-run Bruce Baker HR in the 9th made it 8-4, but once again, the result was a comfortable Metros victory. Juan Salazar and Jeremy Walsh Jr. both hit solo HRs for the Crocs. Auckland’s Bill Makepeace went 4-5. Daniel Jervis (6.0IP, 8H, 5ER, 3BB, 5K) was bested by Cain Blenkhorn (6.2IP, 6H, 2ER, 0BB, 9K).

Game 2 - Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

Another pitchers’ duel. The Fury scored in the 1st, but that would be them for the game. Hobart put together 1 run in each of the 5th and 6th innings to take the lead 2-1 and that was how the score would stay. Cooper Gerlach (8.0IP, 4HR, 1ER, 2BB, 8K) was superb, while Adam Gillorn (7.1IP, 9H, 2R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K) was unlucky, Hobart’s go-ahead run unearned thanks to a 2-out error by Fury 3B Hwen-thiang Guo.

Off Day

The Fury announced 26 y/o Karl Bell had agreed to a 4-year contract extension, avoiding the arbitration table.

Game 3 - Cairns Crocs vs Auckland Metros

Those who predicted pre-series that the Metros offense would be too good were right, as Auckland finished off the series with a 10-3 belting. 6 of those runs came in the 2nd, Mike Wurfel’s 3-run jack contributing half of those. All of Cairns’ 3 runs came via the longball, with Lindsay Colson hitting 1 in the 1st, and Terence McLaren slugging a 2-run shot in the 5th. Ted Murray was hit out of the game in 1.2 innings. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks for 8 runs, 7 earned. Stephen Snell (6.2IP, 6H, 3ER, 5K) got the win.

Game 3 - Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

Martin Valentin’s 2-run HR in the 1st got Wellington on the board early, and Al Merritt’s 3-run shot in the 4th extended the lead against a Prospects team who were getting runners on-base but not able to convert. They eventually scored 2 in the 7th, but by then the horse had bolted. Quentin Stenning’s solo HR in the bottom of that inning took it out to 7-2, and that was how it stayed. Mitch Pankhurst (5.2IP, 10H, 6ER, 1BB, 8K) was either hot or cold, while Ian Zglinicki (8.0IP, 8H, 2R, 0ER, 1BB, 1K) consistently got ground balls to secure the win.

Game 4 - Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

Both teams struggled to get on-base and made fielding fluffs as the pitchers ruled the day. The Prospects scored an unearned run in the 1st, and Wellington evened the Ledger through Stennings’ 2nd HR of the series in the 4th. Jeremy Malone came out for the Fury in the 9th and gave up a 1-out solo HR to Michael Fenton. Brodie Backhouse needed only 9 pitches to finish the game, seeing Hobart to a 2-1 victory. Both Bodkin (7.1IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K) and Bell (6.2IP, 4H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 4K) were strong, but it was Cam Welch who picked up the win, throwing the last 2 outs of the 8th, thus being the pitcher on the mound while the go-ahead HR was hit.

Game 5 - Wellington Fury vs Hobart Prospects

The decider stayed tight through the 1st 6 until Wellington added 2 to their 3-1 advantage. Then in the 8th Olivier Despres cracked a 1-out Grand Slam, pushing the score out to 9-1. That was how it remained, to set up a Championship series between division rivals Auckland and Wellington. Gillorn (8.0IP, 5H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K) was superb this time around, while Gerlach (6.1IP, 7H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 6K) couldn’t quite replicate his Game 2 form.

Series Awards

Crocs vs Metros

Hurler of the Series: Takeshi Takeuchi.

Slugger of the Series: Marcello Bond (.615/.615/1.077, 1HR).

Fury vs Prospects

Hurler of the Series: Ian Zglinicki.

Slugger of the Series: Al Merritt (.364/.348/.682, 2HR).

[Izz]

2043 Championship Series - Wellington Fury vs Auckland Metros

Preview

Two NZ teams would contest the Championship for the 1st time since 2036. That year it was the Fury and the Cowboys, with the Fury victorious. This year the Fury were again in the mix. As in 2036, they got to the final show on the back of their pitching, with their starters the best in the league, and a bullpen that wasn’t too shabby either.

Auckland had completely dominated Cairns, who had the 2nd best starters in the competition behind Wellington, in their Division Finals, and most pundits predicted Auckland to do the same to Wellington. As a point of note: on top of their torrential offense, Auckland’s starters had the 4th best ERA across the regular season.

Regular season matchups: 8-4 Auckland.

Verdict: Auckland in 5

#

Game 1

Ian Zglinicki (12-12, 3.67 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) would take the mound for Wellington, while hometown hero Takashi the Tremendous (16-9, 3.79 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) would be Auckland’s SP.

Both teams swapped runs in the 1st, but Auckland took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd with a 3-run flurry. Marcello Bond doubled to begin the inning, then came home an out later on Wally Stapleton’s single. Young 1B Terence Bansfield then lofted a 1-2 pitch over the centre-right fence for a 2-run HR.

Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the 5th, when Auckland flexed their offensive muscles. Harry Hancock walked to lead the inning off, Bill Makepeace singled, and Lewis also singled, loading the bases with no outs. Carson singled wide of the shortstop to score Hancock and Makepeace. That ended Zglinicki’s night (4.0IP, 10H, 1BB, 3K) but not his scorecard suffering. Reliever Dylan Oliver got Mike Wurfel to fly out, and Marcello Bond to ground out (Lewis scored off this play), but then walked Xavier Bartholomew to keep the inning going. Wally Stapleton singled home Carson, and then Terence Banfield slugged 1 to almost the exact same spot he’d hit his 1st HR, though this time his HR was a 3-run effort. When the dust had settled the Metros led 11-1, and Zglinicki had given up 8ER in his 4 innings.

Hwen-thiang Guo hit a solo HR in the 6th, but the Fury needed more than a run here and there. If Auckland hadn’t stamped the game as theirs already, they did so in the 6th, going single, single, 2-rbi triple, rbi-single, single, BB, F8, rbi-ground out U3, K to take the score to 15-2.

Martin Valentin hit another solo HR for the Fury in the 8th, and they loaded the bases with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, but Valentin hit a line drive directly to 2nd to end the game. 15-3 Auckland in a dominant display.

Takeuchi (6.1IP, 9H, 2ER, 0BB, 4K) got the win. Wellington had 12 hits but couldn’t convert their opportunities. For the Metros, Makepeace was 4-5, Carson 3-5 (including a triple) with 5RBI, and Bansfield, hitting at 9, was 2-4 with 6RBI and 1BB.

Game 2

Karl Bell (17-6, 2.62 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) would go up against 22-game regular season winner Cain Blenkhorn.

Blenkhorn had trouble picking his spots in the top of the 1st, and Wellington went ground out (4-3), single, steal followed by rbi-double, rbi-single, caught stealing followed by K to go up 2-0. Auckland’s vaunted offense couldn’t get going, the score staying 2-0 until the top of the 6th when Valentin hit his 2nd HR of the series to make it 3-0. In the bottom of that inning Carson walked and came home on Wurfel’s double off the wall to make it 3-1.

Hopes of a comeback took a dive in the 7th when Wellington put together a 2-out rally (BB, single, rbi-single, 2-rbi double) to see the score go to 6-1. And that was how it remained, Wellington levelling the series with a strong defensive performance.

Blenkhorn (6.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 6K) took the loss, while Bell (6.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 4BB, 5K) got the win, throwing 123 pitches in the process. Valentin picked up Player of the Game with a 3-5 performance, including that solo HR. He drove in half of Wellington’s runs.

Off-day

Wellington announced Martin Valentin had agreed to a buy-out of his arbitration years, signing a new 4-year contract. The 2041 Rookie of the Year was already a fan favourite. During the regular season he’d stolen 31 out of a possible 33 bases. His nickname of ‘Nervous’ apparently came from his running style, which teammates said made him “look like he was running for cover.”

Game 3

Adam Gillorn (15-7, 3.65 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) would take the mound for Wellington’s first foray at home, while Stephen Snell (12-8, 3.67 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) was Auckland’s choice.

Both pitchers looked settled through the 1st, though Snell gave up a 2-out double to Stennings. Carson led off the 2nd with a double over the rightfielder’s head, and came home off a Wurfel single. Wurfel stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on a deep fly to left, and then came home on a regulation fly to centre, diving in ahead of the throw. His baserunning in this inning would prove to be pivotal.

Auckland’s offense dried up completely after that, while Hobart had regular opportunities with few outs but couldn’t make anything of them. In the 5th Olivier Despres hit a solo HR to make it a 1-run ballgame, but both teams then retreated back into their shells, the pitchers owning the diamond.

In the bottom of the 9th, with Mauro Contreras facing his 1st postseason save opportunity, Valentin led off with a single. Then Sam Stubbs ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Guo kept the inning alive with a single past short, but Jarod Dwyer could only hit a regulation fly to right. 2-1 Auckland.

Gillorn (6.2IP, 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K) was superb but ultimately tagged with the loss, while Snell (7.0IP, 5H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K) was also good, and his relievers held their nerve to get him the W.

Game 4

Kelvin Ziersch (11-10, 3.45 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.25 WHIP) would start for Wellington, while Auckland put seasoned ace back Takeuchi on the mound on limited rest, hoping to secure themselves a 2-game advantage.

Back-to-back Lewis and Carson doubles gave Auckland a run in the top of the 1st, but Wellington equalized immediately, Christos Hutchinson leading off the bottom of the inning with a triple and scoring off the following Al Merritt single. Both pitchers exchanged blows, with Wellington going ahead in the 3rd via double, ground-out (5-3), ground-out (4-3), rbi-single, ground-out (5-3).

Both pitchers continued to duel, with Takeuchi coming off after 6. He’d allowed 5 hits, 1BB for 2ER, striking out 3. Wellington almost got something going against his replacement, Brendon Knopp, but fell just short. Ziersch was replaced after 7 (6H, 1ER, 3BB, 4K), and 3 Fury relievers combined to complete the 8th inning on just 4 pitches.

Jeremy Malone came out in the top of the 9th, the home fans cheering him on enthusiastically. He hit the 1st batter of the inning, Bond, and then gave up a single to Bartholomew. Stapleton hit a grounder to the right of 1B Dermott Gillett, who got across easily enough and threw to 2nd, looking for the DP. Unfortunately, his throw was wild, and by the time the LF had tidied up Bond had scored to level the game, Bartholomew was on 3rd and Stapleton on 2nd. Next up, Bansfield cracked one deep to left-centre. Fly out, but deep enough to score Bartholomew uncontested. Malone was pulled and it didn’t take an expert lip-reader to decipher he wasn’t happy.

His replacement got the final 2 outs, and Contreras marched out to the mound, alternately warming and blowing on his pitching hand. Sam Stubbs surrendered on 2 pitches with a shallow fly to centre. Jarod Dwyer hit the 1st pitch of his AB weakly towards the hole at 2nd for a regulation 4-3 ground out. Despres popped up high on the infield. SS Bill Makepeace waved everyone else away and took the catch to end the game. 2-1 Auckland to put them 1 win away from the Championship!

Game 5

Zglinicki v Blenkhorn. The Metros had only used 3 starters so far in the series.

Once again, Auckland attacked Zglinicki from the outset. Hancock opened the game with a single, then scored off Makepeace’s extra-deep double. Makepeace continued Auckland’s trend of aggressive baserunning, advancing to 3rd on Lewis’s deep fly out into leftfield foul territory. Carson hit a regulation grounder to 2nd, but Makepeace was crossing homeplate at the same time the ball was hitting the gloves of the 1B.

The Metros scored 2 more in the 2nd, Bartholomew hitting a solo HR, and then later Stapleton scoring with the bases loaded thanks to a balk call. Zglinicki did not like that one!

Meanwhile, Blenkhorn was pitching like someone who had one hand on the Hurler of the Year trophy, the bats of the Fury hitters seemingly made of rubber. The score stayed 4-0 until the 7th, when Auckland went double, rbi-double (seeing off Zglinicki), single, runner scores off throwing error on steal attempt and stealer advances to 3rd, rbi-single, 2-run HR (Lewis), making it 9-0.

In the bottom of the 7th, Stennings doubled to be only the 2nd baserunner Blenkhorn had allowed all night, but the next 3 batters couldn’t get the ball out of the infield. Blenkhorn was replaced by Knopp in the 8th. The 1st batter he faced drove 1 to the wall at left, but Lewis pulled off a leaping catch to keep it in the yard. As if cowed, the next 2 hitters popped out and struck out respectively. Knopp stayed on the mound for the 9th, and finished the game on 8 pitches (5-3, K, 4-3). 9-0 Auckland, capping off a convincing Championship victory!

Blenkhorn (7.0IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K) was nearly untouchable, while Zglinicki (6.0IP, 7H, 6R, 5ER, 0BB, 1K) was better than in Game 1, but only by a yard, not a mile.

Series Awards

Hurler of the Series: Cain Blenkhorn (1-1, 13.2IP, 10H, 4ER, 2BB, 12K) won this award on the back of his Championship-sealing performance in Game 5.

Slugger of the Series: Terence Bansfield. .389/.400/.833, 2 doubles, 2HR.

[Izz]

2043 Championship-winning Metros

[Izz]

2043 Leaderboards

[Izz]

Hall of Fame - Elliot Wilkins

Well known as a 1-team player, Elliot Wilkins was a Roo through and through. He retired with 5 Championship rings to his name, and made headlines as the 2nd player to pass the 400HR mark (and also made headlines when he went his entire last season without hitting a single HR, leaving him in 2nd place on the HR list).

[Izz]

2043 Awards

Gold Gloves

Pitcher: Xadreque Neiva (Brisbane Bandits)
Catcher: Jeremy Walsh Jr. (Cairns Crocs)
First Baseman: Rich Bannon (Adelaide Venom)
Second Baseman: Owen Bullock (Adelaide Venom)
Third Baseman: Brock Wakely (Christchurch Cowboys)
Shortstop: Bill Makepeace (Auckland Metros)
Left Fielder: Travis Bright (Cairns Crocs)
Center Fielder: Nelson Saggers (Sydney Blue Sox)
Right Fielder: Hong-bin Bao (Brisbane Bandits)

Rookie of the Year

This award was wide open in 2043, with no clear frontrunners. 21 y/o Wellington OF Christos Hutchinson took it out, despite winning no Rookie of the Month awards during the season. He hit .286/.328/.362, 174-608, with 74 runs, 26 doubles, 10 triples, 31BB, and 41SB. He also had a +11.0 ZR in CF, as well as a 4.6 WAR and 35.9 VORP.

22 y/o Aces catcher Jacob Blanksby (.257/.348/.444, 23HR) came 2nd, while another Fury OF, 23 y/o Carl Bristcoe (.232/.305/.440, 28HR) finished 3rd.

Skipper of the Year

1st-year Auckland skipper Vince Dickson had a great introduction to the big-time in 2043. A former pitcher who’d made it to AAA-ball, he’d been the hitting coach (yep, hitting) for the Venom AAA-affiliate, the Innisfail Wheels, before beating out the other applicants for the role of Metros manager. And not only did his lads win 104 games, they also won the Championship, and at the Awards Dinner, Dickson received one more accolade to cap his debut year off: the Skipper of the Year award.

He started off his acceptance speech by saying, “When your team hits nearly .300 across the season, well, that certainly makes most of your moves look good...”

Hurler of the Year

With 4 pitchers winning 20 games during the regular season, all the talk pre-Awards was which of those 4 deserved to win HotY, with most of the opinion Cain Blenkhorn would get it thanks to his strong postseason.

But of course Awards Night wouldn’t be Awards Night without something coming directly out of leftfield and this year it was this: Hurler of the Year went to Hobart’s Luke Bodkin, who’d fallen just short of the 20-win mark, but had been quite brilliant all the same. He was 19-7 in 2043, with a 2.58 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.99 WHIP, and 224 Ks from 233.1 IP. His WAR was 5.5, his VORP 68.1.

Cain Blenkhorn (22-7, 3.20 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) finished 2nd. He now had 3 Championship rings, 2 HotY runner-up placings, but no All Star appearances. Edward Delaney (21-6, 3.13 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) got the 3rd-place gong.

Slugger of the Year

There were no surprises here, even though a few brave souls had been talking up Pi-ao Ming’s chances of taking back-to-back SotYs. Wayne Carson won this in a landslide. He was .364/.417/.598 for the year, 220-605, with 123 runs scored, 37 doubles, 9 triples, 29HR, 131RBI, 45BB and 18SB. He had an 8.6 WAR and a 90.0 VORP.

Pi-ao Ming (.329/.380/.581, 32HR) finished a distant 2nd, while Mike Wurfel (.344/.401/.525, 21HR) came 3rd.

[Izz]

2043 Career Leaderboards

Finally, a new leader atop the career HR leaderboard!

[Izz]

Offseason

2043 Notes

ERA jumped 4 points, to 4.29, while BA stayed static at .263.

BL Wrapup

The Georgetown Piratas went back-to-back, beating the Juarez Locos 3-1 in the Serie de Campeonato.

The BL’s Novato del Ano was 27 y/o Piratas’ 3B Pedro Cruz. He hit .265/.328/.464 on the season, with 14HR. Prior to heading back to the Lower Americas, Cruz had been a minor leaguer with the Roos and Cowboys in the AUNZBL.

The BL’s 2043 Jarra de Oro was Piratas’ SP Zachariah Helmrich. He went 14-4, with a 2.92 ERA, 3.35 FIP, and 1.08 WHIP. In 2039 he’d made 2 appearances in the AUNZBL for Wellington.

Juan de la Hoya dominated the BL in 2043, and justly won the Bateador de Oro award. He was .344/.421/.599, with 25HR.

Notable Club Happenings

Cairns Crocs: Despite Cairns making it to their 1st postseason ever, manager Andy Acret didn’t have his contract renewed. BC Elijah Oliver would move into the role.

Canberra Cavalry: Vince Albury lasted 1 year as Cavalry skipper before getting the axe. It was his 1st year as a manager at any level, and he lost over 100 games.

Christchurch Cowboys: Rory Graham got the axe as manager. The Cowboys were 82-80 in 2043, finishing 3rd in the NZ division. BC Ryan Jacoby, who’d played major league ball from 2019-2023, would step into the void.

Hobart Prospects: Oliver Chambers had never won less than 93 games in a season over his 4 years managing the Prospects, but for reasons known only to management didn’t get his contract renewed. BC Sterling Anglesey, famously fired as interim coach at 2 different clubs, would take the reins.

Melbourne Aces: Melbourne gave skipper Zachariah Meehan the heave-ho. He’d managed the team for 2 and a bit seasons, and while 2043 (71-91) was better than 2042 (58-104) it wasn’t good enough and he was gone.

Perth Heat: GM Charles Dethridge didn’t have his contract renewed, and manager Nick Backhouse retired. BC Bert McNatty, who’d spent most of his career as a scouting director, would manage the 2044 season.

Wellington Fury: After 1 season managing the Fury, Ashley Zhuan announced his retirement. He’d managed the Cowboys, Heat, Blue Sox and Fury during his career, for a 488-484 record.

Notable Free Agent Signings/Player Contract Extensions

28 Mar: Canberra and Joel Hopewell (.242/.329/.468, 117HR) agreed to a 4-year extension. The wearer of the 2043 HR crown would avoid arbitration and would likely be contracted until after the 1st year of his free agency eligibility.

29 Apr: 35 y/o Alastair Mildren (.288/.367/.509, 425HR) signed a 2-year extension with the Roos. At the presser announcing his extension he said, “Y’know, the only games I’ve missed in the last 11 seasons were that week I wasn’t signed in 2040. Other than that I’ve managed to get out there for every game, and I’m still feeling as fit and loose as I was in 2033.”

30 Apr: 37 y/o Dylan Cully (187-150, 3.32 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) opted to stay with Whangarei for another season. Most felt that him doing so put paid to any plans he had for reaching 200 career wins.

3 May: This year’s top 25 free agents were:

30 y/o 1B Ashley Snijders
32 y/o SP Takashi Takeuchi
27 y/o SS Young-tae Lee
29 y/o SP Richard Avery
32 y/o 1B Rich Bannon
29 y/o SP Sterling Dunlop
28 y/o CF Harry Hancock
33 y/o C Leo Jiang
29 y/o SP Bruno Watters
30 y/o C Vince Braddock
38 y/o 2B Rex Rees
30 y/o SP Todd Fry
30 y/o 2B Craig Hardy
32 y/o SS Anibal Martinez (BL)
32 y/o 1B Remilde Belinho (BL)
32 y/o 1B Patrick Dempster
33 y/o C Eduardo Sanchez (BL)
31 y/o 1B Mark Snook (BL)
33 y/o SP Pedro Baca (BL)
33 y/o SP Norberto Lopez (BL)
34 y/o SP Pedro Lozano (BL)
31 y/o SP Claudio Nunes (BL)
34 y/o 1B Blair Ottaway
32 y/o SP Michael Paterson
35 y/o 3B Martin Romano (BL)

The Roos, Sluggers and Metros were the biggest WAR losers, while the Aces and Bandits actually gained some WAR.

#

11 May: Hobart continued throwing cash around, starting off the 2043 free agent flurry by signing superstar Young-tae Lee (.301/.403/.483, 131HR) to a 5-year deal.

13 May: Takashi Takeuchi (99-53, 3.33 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) swapped Auckland for Cairns, signing a 3-year deal with the Crocs. When asked how this move might affect his business venture, Tremendous Wines, he laughed and replied through his interpreter, “This is an opportunity to extend our customer base even further!”

15 May: Ashley Snijders (.302/.393/.538, 279HR) continued to enhance his image as a loyal clubman, re-signing with the Cavalry for a further 4 years.

16 May: Perth won the contest to sign Sterling Dunlop (78-64, 3.56 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.27 WHIP), doing so with a 4-year offer.

23 May: Harry Hancock (.260/.356/.387, 23HR, +104.2 ZR at CF) signed a 4-year deal with Canberra.

24 May: Michael Paterson (90-69, 3.52 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.19 WHIP) revealed his desire to be a one-club player today, doing so at the presser where Perth announced he had re-signed with them for 4 more years.

24 May: Melbourne signed Pedro Lozano (31-21, 2.87 ERA, 3.28 FIP, 1.11 WHIP in the BL) to a 3-year deal. Many were skeptical of the move.

31 May: Auckland and Anibal Martinez (.249/.359/.501, 82HR in the BL) put pen to paper on a 2-year deal.

3 Jun: Vince Braddock (.247/.315/.397, 103HR) signed a 4-year deal with the Roos.

7 Jun: The Cavalry signed another free agent, Leo Jiang (.260/.365/.431, 154HR). The injury-prone catcher had agreed to a 2-year deal.

9 Jun: Craig Hardy (.299/.361/.404, 46HR) re-signed with the Blue Sox for 4 years.

28 Jun: The Metros and Richard Avery (80-70, 3.82 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) agreed to terms on a 6-year deal.

8 Jul: 30 y/o Li Delzoppo (.289/.338/.402, 55HR) signed a 7-year deal with Perth.

15 Jul: Wellington signed Bruno Watters (51-74, 4.65 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.52 WHIP) to a 5-year deal.

31 Jul: Todd Fry (58-50, 3.93 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 1.25 WHIP) signed a 4-season contract with the Blue Sox.

4 Aug: Canberra weren’t done signing players, today announcing Rich Bannon (.277/.320/.448, 238HR) had signed a 3-year deal.

12 Aug: Superstar Rex Rees (.308/.414/.508, 413HR) would not be playing in the AUNZBL next season. The 38 y/o had signed a 2-year deal with the Piratas in the BL, and said, “It’s about time I step outside my comfort zone and see what the world’s like outside Australasia.”

20 Aug: 34 y/o Beau Trew (.263/.309/.439, 133HR) had spent the last 3 seasons plying his trade in the BL, where he’d hit .286/.359/.483, with 48HR. Now he was back in the AUNZBL, having signed a 1-year contract with the Aces.

1 Oct: Remilde Belinho (.266/.359/.506, 73HR in 3 BL seasons) signed with the Thunder for 2 years.

Notable Trades

25 May: The Roos acquired 30 y/o OF Benjamin Barclay (.276/.333/.422, 71HR) from the Bandits in exchange for 3 prospects.

Notable Injuries

6 Sep: Joel Hopewell (.242/.329/.468, 117HR) would miss at least the 1st 6 weeks of the season due to a torn muscle in his rib cage.

24 Sep: Mike Wurfel (.297/.353/.428, 111HR) would miss 3 or so weeks of the season while he recovered from a sprained ankle.

Other Notes

27 Sep: Marty Murdock, owner of the Aces, surprised everyone today by announcing he’d sold the organization to local net celebrity Hack Ginnis. Ginnis, whose birth name was certainly not ‘Hack,’ had made his name during the 2030s, when daredevil stunt contest shows were popular. He’d lost more than he’d won, and usually ended each show in a hospital bed, but it was that combination of lack of ability coupled with competitive drive that made him an icon in Victoria. Now 40 years old, he’d shown a better hand at business than stunts, and was hoping to transform the Aces from perennial cellar dwellers to contenders. He was known to be tolerant and charitable.

While most welcomed the change of ownership, plenty lambasted Murdock’s timing, finalizing the deal only a few days from the beginning of the regular season. One baseball insider was quoted as saying, “Typical Murdock, this whole thing. He always could turn anything Aces-related into a shambles.”

#

The cash-strapped Sluggers had made virtually no offseason moves, trying to stabilize from within. The Cavalry, on the other hand, made plenty of offseason moves, gaining 9.1 WAR. The Venom signed 5 BL players, all of them pitchers.

[Trebro]

Please make sure we get at least one media update on Rees. Is he the biggest name to bolt for the other league so far? And if the trend continues, will it hurt future HoF noms? Oh, the possibilities!

[Izz]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Please make sure we get at least one media update on Rees. Is he the biggest name to bolt for the other league so far? And if the trend continues, will it hurt future HoF noms? Oh, the possibilities!

I'll keep an eye on him

Most in the media agreed it was the right move for Rees. While he didn't give specifics, it appeared the deal the Piratas offered was a good one, plus he would be an everday player in the BL, whereas he was likely looking at a bench spot if an AUNZBL team picked him up. And while he wasn't exiting the AUNZBL at his peak, he wasn't too far from it, so he would be remembered for what he was, possibly the best player of his generation, rather than as Elliot Wilkins was too often remembered, as the guy who couldn't hit a single HR in his final season when he only needed 5 to get the record.

Most of the players who'd gone across to the BL so far were old guys looking to extend their careers, fringe MLers, or minor league free agents. Probably the biggest name prior to Rees was Vaughan Lockrey, who left the AUNZBL with 385 career HRs. If he'd stayed in the AUNZBL he might've got to 400, but the chances of a team picking him up with an ML-level contract were slim, and he was on his last legs as a hitter.

Rees wasn't the only well known player to go the BL during this offseason, though. Jayden 'Dog House' Guthrie, 20-game winner in 2040, signed a 3-year contract with the Cali Destructores. He'd missed most of the 2042 season and all of the 2043 season with injury, so probably figured he couldn't turn down the money Cali threw at him. He was 32 now, so there was still a chance he might make it back to the AUNZBL after his BL-stint, seeing as pitchers currently seem to age a lot better than hitters.

[Izz]

Rex Rees

Rees belied his small stature to be one of the best players the AUNZBL had seen.

At the time he left to play in the BL, Rees had the 2nd-best career OBP, the 7th-best career SLG, the best VORP (919.07) - more than 200 higher than the next-best active player - had played the 2nd-most games, had the 3rd-most ABs, had scored the most runs, was 3rd on the all-time hits list, had the 6th most singles (1726), the 2nd-most HRs, the 3rd-most RBIs, the 3rd-most BBs, and the best career WAR.

Extremely smart, with a great work ethic and a very strong desire to win, rumour abounded throughout his career that he was more interested in the money than the team, but he only played for 2 teams across his 16-and-a-bit year AUNZBL career, beginning with Auckland and finishing 2 hours up the road in Whangarei.

A 3-time Slugger of the Year, Rees also won a Gold Glove and went to 14 All Star Games. Perhaps the only thing tarnishing his legacy was the fact he only won 1 Championship, with the Metros in 2027, a campaign he was barely a part of and in which he didn't make the postseason roster. He played in 3 more postseasons, putting up decent if not impressive numbers (.273/.357/.374, 27-99, 15 runs, 2 doubles, 2HR, 11BB). In 2039, during Whangarei's magical run to the Championship series, he injured himself in March and missed the playoffs. Who knows what might've happened if he'd stayed fit.

He hit 11 Grand Slams in his career, and led the league in HRs in 2031, as well as in RBI. He won the batting title in both 2030 and 2038, and featured on the OBP leaderboard 11 times, leading the league in 2030, 2033 and 2038. He also had the league's best slugging in 2038. In 2030 and 2032 he led the league in WAR.

Over the course of his career, when asked which batters they most disliked pitching to (an anonymous survey was typically done annually among players), pitchers always had Rees near the top of their list. He was hard to strike out, had a great eye, was patient, and could go yard off just about anything.

Truly a great player. The Piratas had pulled off a coup, luring him across. Whether he lit up the BL was immaterial. He was just as popular in the Lower Americas as he was in Australasia, and news of his signing pushed the Piratas fans into joyous overdrive.

[Izz]

2044 Preseason Predictions

Southwest: The Prospects, Cavalry and Venom were the 3 teams expected to be over .500 in 2044, with the Prospects again proving too good, racking up their 5th 90+ win season in a row.

Northeast: This would the weakest division this season, with the Blue Sox scraping home to win the pennant by 2 games, just 6 over .500. Cairns would be 2nd, and the Thunder 3rd.

NZ: This year the Fury would be the best team in baseball, though the Metros would also win over 90 games and pick up the wildcard.

#

Snijders was picked as the player who'd win SotY, while Wayne Carson's 2043 exploits wouldn't be repeated. Fury 1B Quentin Stennings would have a breakout season, while Melbourne 1B Jake Mekville would hit the most HRs.

Auckland's Brendan Knopp was the favourite to win HotY, though Wellington's Adam Gillorn would challenge, and Edward Delaney wasn't going to show any signs of slowing down with age. Brodie Backhouse would have another impressive year closing out games for Hobart.

[Izz]

2044/2045 Season - October

Notable Performances

5 Oct: Canberra’s Walter Anglesey notched the 1st shutout of the 2044 season, restricting the Heat to 5 hits and 2 walks in a 3-0 victory. He struck out 4.

5 Oct: Richard Lewis hit in the last 15 games of the 2043 regular season, and in the 1st 5 games of the 2044 season to put together a 20-game hit streak. He brought up the milestone with a solo HR.

7 Oct: Matt Panther went 5-5 to help the Metros beat up on the hapless Sluggers’ 9-1.

9 Oct: Lewis’s hit streak came to an end at 23 games.

10 Oct: Canberra were off to the best possible start to their season: they’d won their 1st 10 games! They would lose their 1st of the season the next night.

12 Oct: Randall Gaynon of the Bandits lost 20 games in 2043. Today, he took a no-hitter into the 5th versus the Cavalry before surrendering a single. He allowed only 1 more baserunner (a single in the 8th) to lead the Bandits to a 10-0 thrashing of the high-flying Cavalry. He struck out 3, and said after the game, “Today was one of those days that reminds me why I love the game so much.”

13 Oct: Dean Warner swatted 5 hits from 5 at-bats, including a double and a HR, to play a pivotal role in Central’s 13-6 beat-up of the Heat. Warner scored twice and drove in 5.

17 Oct: Wellington’s Kelvin Ziersch gave up just 3 hits and 1 walk, fanning 5, to see the Heat beaten 5-0.

18 Oct: Daniel Jervis allowed only 6 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 10, to see Cairns shut out Whangarei 5-0.

23 Oct: Vaughan Wilmott currently had a better BA than OBP (.408/.403/.563, 1HR). The 25 y/o Hobart SS was a free-swinger, but one with exceptional hand-eye coordination. In 2043, he struck out only 35 times in 613PA. This day, he drilled 5 singles in a 5-6 performance against Whangarei. Hobart won the game 9-5.

25 Oct: Cam Welch led the Prospects to a 7-0 shutout victory over the Metros, doing so on the back of 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 9.

Notable Injuries

20 Oct: Adelaide’s Hal Steedman (.282/.356/.538, 3HR) was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and expected to miss 3-4 months.

24 Oct: Bandits’ 1B Justin Blake (.281/.324/.391, 1HR) was finally diagnosed with a fractured wrist after being hit by a pitch on the 19th. He would miss 6 more weeks of the season.

27 Oct: Mark Donoghue (.264/.292/.396, 2HR) spent a good portion of the 2043 season injured, and today he learned he’d spend a similar amount of the 2044 season out injured. He’d strained his hip on the basepaths and would be on the DL at least 4 months.

Notable Trades/Signings

13 Oct: Auckland worked out a 4-year extension with 26 y/o Bill Makepeace (.364/.379/.582, 3HR so far in 2044), thus buying out his arbitration years.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: There seemed to be a proliferation of Ziersch’s in the AUNZBL presently, and the winner of the October Rookie of the Month was one such. 25 y/o Benjamin Ziersch was getting his 1st taste of the big leagues this season with the Venom, and making a pretty decent fist of it so far. He hit .303/.309/.426 in October, 37-122, with 6 doubles, 3HR, 20RBI, and 1BB.

Hurler of the Month: Wellington’s Karl Bell was the man. He went 5-1 over the month, with a 1.17 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and 0.80 WHIP, to be leading the league in both ERA and WHIP. He struck out 40 in 46.0 IP, and also topped the league in H/9 (4.70), and OAVG (.151).

Slugger of the Month: Brock Wakely. .374/.477/.664, 40-107, with 23 runs, 7 doubles, 8HR, 28RBI, and 22BB. He led the league in BA, SLG, OPS, wOBA (.475), RBI, and batter’s WAR (2.3).

Media Watch

Rex Rees: Rees might’ve been on another continent, but that didn’t mean he was out of the minds of the media. A mainstream net-channel crew trekked over to Guyana to see him, though only about 10 minutes of the 1 hour show involved Rees. He was settling in nicely, it appeared, enjoying the slightly slower pace of life.

It wasn’t slower in Guyana when it came to baseball, though. With the demise of cricket post-War, baseball and soccer filled the void, but it was baseball that was winning the battle for national sport. That meant Rees was something of a demi-god to the fans which, he said, “is pretty intimidating and, frankly, anxiety-inducing - what if I don’t live up to their expectations?” Still, he filled his role with good humour, spending a large part of each day signing autographs and posing for pictures. On the playing side of things, he said he couldn't speculate too much before the season started, but training here was just as rigorous as it was back home.

In a surprise twist, his 25 y/o cousin Bruno Rees was also on the team. Bruno had made it as high as AA-ball in the AUNZBL before becoming a minor league free agent in 2043. He immediately headed for the BL, signing a small deal with the Piratas and was soon one of the backup outfielders on the 25-man top squad. His goal was to hone his craft in the BL and then pick up a major league deal back home. Rex revealed that it was Bruno who had put him in touch with Piratas’ management about the possibility of coming across to the BL.

The really impressive thing about the Georgetown Piratas was its stadium. Set on the mouth of the Demerara River, Piratas Stadium was surrounded by beautiful jungle and only minutes from the ferry terminal that linked it with Georgetown proper, and which was the primary way spectators travelled to games. Piratas Stadium could seat 54,100, bigger than any AUNZBL park, and definitely wouldn’t have looked out of place in Australasia. Georgetown averaged over 42,000 fans per game in 2043. The only drawback was that, at times, if there was no breeze, conditions inside the stadium got a bit slippery due to the humidity.

Alastair Mildren: Mildren was on the march to 450, and while his Roos were awful in October, Mildren slugged 7HR to take him to 432 career jacks. He only needed 18 more to get to 450!

Other Notes

Southwest Division: The Cavalry led the early charge in the Southwest, with the Aces in good form too, just 2 games back. The Venom were 1 game further behind in 3rd, while the Prospects were in 4th, just under .500.

Northeast Division: The Blue Sox held a 2-game advantage over the Crocs. The rest of the division was under .500.

NZ Division: The Metros and Cowboys had a share of the lead, with the Fury recovering from a slow start to finish the month 1 game out of 1st.

Wildcard: Too early to pay attention to.

#

Young-tae Lee (.365/.481/.538, 3HR) was enjoying his move to Hobart, topping the league in OBP as well as BB (22).

Matt Panther (.347/.446/.636, 9HR) was league-leader in HR, hits (41), and runs scored (25).

Luke Bodkin had a horror start to the year, racking up 5 losses and 0 wins from his 1st 5 starts.

Logan Neilson (1-2, 4.04 ERA, 2.50 FIP, 1.37 WHIP) led the league in FIP.

Daniel Jervis (5-1, 1.38 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 0.96 WHIP) had recorded the most strikeouts at the end of October (41) and had the best pitcher’s WAR (.18).

Melbourne’s Mario ‘Slingshot’ Campos led the league in saves, with 11. In his 1st season in the AUNZBL, he had earned the nickname ‘Slingshot’ due to his unique pitching action, which not only enabled him to throw a devastating slider and a 154 km/h cut fastball, but also made it difficult for the hitter to pick when exactly the ball left his hand. Coaches weren't going to start teaching kids to throw like him anytime soon, though, with doctors unanimous that most people wouldn't have the shoulders and elbows to put up with the strain that accompanied Campos's pitching style.

Standings, Nov 1