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

[Izz]

2048 Division Finals

Game 1 - Perth Heat vs Central Coast Thunder

The Thunder couldn’t get their bats swinging, only managing 3 hits on the night. Vic Gerlach’s solo HR was their only score, while Perth put up 6 runs, 3 via the longball (Warren Danvers, Patrick Dickinson, Bradley Trew). Adrian Duggan (8.0IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K) got the win, while Jesus Hernandez (5.2IP, 8H, 5ER, 4BB, 5K) had a rough night and took the loss. Final score: 6-1 Perth.

Game 1 - Wellington Fury vs Brisbane Bandits

Both sides brought their offense but left their defense at home. The lead swapped hands several times through the early innings before Wellington ran away with it from the 6th onwards. Both sides hit 3HRs apiece (Wellington: Roy Andrews, Quentin Stennings, Phillip Tinter; Brisbane: Gordon Appleby, Harrison Jackson, Cong Chaim). Ashley Barry (6.1IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB, 6K) got the W, and Justin Trembath (6.2IP, 11H, 6R, 5ER, 1BB, 3K) got hosed. Final score: 10-6 Wellington.

Game 2 - Perth Heat vs Central Coast Thunder

The Thunder took an early lead, scoring 3 in the 3rd, and held the Heat scoreless until the 7th, when Perth busted out with 5 runs. Perth would score 2 more in the 9th via a Warren Danvers HR and win 7-4. Elijah Gulledge (7.2IP, 9H, 5ER, 3BB, 5K) went deep in a losing cause, just outlasting Ian Wiltshire (7.1IP, 8H, 3ER, 2BB, 3K) who picked up the win.

Game 2 - Wellington Fury vs Brisbane Bandits

Wellington never looked like getting going today, getting only 6 baserunners on. Brisbane weren’t sensational either, but did enough early, Harrison Jackson’s 3-run HR in the 2nd putting them too far ahead. Final score: 4-0 Brisbane. Lance Ralston (7.0IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 7K) was great for the win, while Ian Northard (4.1ER, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 3K) got punched out early.

Off-day

The day after his match-winning Game 2 performance, Lance Ralston signed a 4-year extension with the Bandits.

Game 3 - Perth Heat vs Central Coast Thunder

This game remained tight until the 9th, when the Thunder batted round, scoring 6, to make the final score-line 8-1 and get themselves back into the series. Carlo Avery (7.0IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 6K) took the loss, while Edwin Kerr (7.1IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 4K) got the win.

Game 3 - Wellington Fury vs Brisbane Bandits

Wellington avenged their shutout loss in Game 2 in the best possible fashion, shutting out Brisbane by the exact same score, 4-0. The star of the day was Jay Cummins (9.0IP, 3H, 0ER, 3BB, 6K) who had the ball on a string all game. Clint Aitcheson (7.1IP, 8H, 4R, 2ER, 2BB, 10K) deserved a lot better than a loss, but that was the way baseball went. Dean Warner hit a solo HR in the 4th for the Fury.

Game 4 - Perth Heat vs Central Coast Thunder

When 7 of your 9 starting hitters are under .200 for the series, it’s pretty impossible to win anything, as the Thunder once again found out. They managed just 3 base hits, scoring none, and even though the game stayed scoreless until the 8th, they never looked in it. Final score: 2-0 Perth, and they were off to the Preliminary Finals. Both starters were good (Hernandez - CEN- 5.0IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 5K; Duggan - PER - 5.2IP, 3H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K) but it was regular season starter Roderick Donovan who snatched the win, throwing 2.1 innings of perfect relief.

Game 4 - Wellington Fury vs Brisbane Bandits

Homeruns to Carl Bristcoe and Quentin Stennings, both 2-run shots, were enough to get Wellington home 4-2, and see them through to the second playoff round. Brisbane’s only scoring shot was also a 2-run homer, to Gordon Appleby. Barry (6.1IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, 6K) got the win, while Trembath (5.2IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K) took the loss.

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Box Scores

[Trebro]

Good to see this one back!

[Izz]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Good to see this one back!

Thank you I didn't realize until looking just now that it had been a month since the last post!

[Izz]

2048 Preliminary Finals

All the analysts seemed only interested in one thing on the day before these series began: would the extra rest the top 2 seeds had received be beneficial or detrimental? The split was about 50-50 each way, with everybody vocal about their opinion.

Game 1 - Perth Heat vs Sydney Blue Sox

2048’s best defensive team, in the Blue Sox, went up against the league’s 2nd-best offensive team after a week off. They looked rusty early, too, Quintin Duncalf’s 3-run HR in the top of the 1st giving Perth the early advantage. It was an advantage they’d never relinquish, going on to win 5-3. Juan Hernandez and Nigel Pinney both went deep for the Sox. Bradley Fouracre (6.1IP, 6H, 5ER, 5BB, 9K) had so much movement on his pitches he had trouble finding the plate at times, while Ian Wiltshire (8.0IP, 4H, 3ER, 4BB, 1K) was far less entertaining, but got the win. Robert Bywaters picked up his 3rd save of the postseason.

Game 1 - Wellington Fury vs Whangarei Sluggers

Continuing their division rivalry, Wellington faced off with Whangarei in the other matchup of this postseason round. Despite boasting the 2nd-best regular season record, Whangarei were actually ranked behind Wellington in both offense and defense (6th in both; the Fury were 5th-best offensively and 2nd-best defensively). Whangarei didn’t register a single extra-base hit in the game, but a typically gritty 3-run 2nd saw them take the lead. They held onto it, eventually winning 4-1. Allan Spear (8.0IP, 6H, 1ER, 0BB, 4K) got the win, while Ian Northard (6.1IP, 8H, 4ER, 3BB, 3K) registered his 2nd loss of the postseason.

Game 2 - Perth Heat vs Sydney Blue Sox

The Blue Sox showed they’d shaken off their rust by tearing Carlo Avery and Sterling Duff a new one in the bottom of the 1st, scoring 8 (6 of those before an out had been recorded). Nigel Pinney hit a 1st-pitch Grand Slam among the carnage and Martin Leon slugged a 2-run HR as well. That didn’t mean the game was over, though, as Perth scored 4 in the top of the 2nd to demonstrate why they’d gotten this far. Travis Cobb homered for Sydney in the 3rd, but by the middle of the 7th the Sox were only just clinging to the lead, the score 10-9 thanks to Bradley Trew’s 3-run jack. A 2-run pinch-hit triple from Carlo Gadsden put Perth ahead in the 9th, and while Sydney got 1 back in the bottom of the inning it wasn’t enough, the Heat fighting their way to a 12-11 victory. By the standards of the game, Sydney starter Baden Moore (4.1IP, 8H, 6ER, 5BB, 5K) did well, seeing as Avery, his counterpart, got yanked without recording an out.

Game 2 - Wellington Fury vs Whangarei Sluggers

The corresponding game to the Heat-Blue Sox affair was a positive snorefest by comparison, even though Wellington’s 4-run rally in the 9th almost took the game to extra innings. A 6-run 7th (featuring only 1 XBH - a double off the wall) was the centrepiece of the Sluggers’ game, as they ended up 7-6 victors. Minus the top of the 9th, Wilson Lara (8.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 1BB, 4K) showed a cool head against his former team to get the win, while Jay Cummins (6.2IP, 7H, 7ER, 5BB, 3K) came down to earth and was tagged with the loss. Neither side had cleared the fence yet in the series.

Game 3 - Perth Heat vs Sydney Blue Sox

Perth were all over this game from the get-go, Trew hitting 2 longballs and Duncalf 1 in the 5-1 victory. Sydney manager Arthur Hudson said he didn’t want to use the long layoff as an excuse, but promptly did anyway, saying, “Anybody could see we were underdone out there.” Adrian Duggan (7.0IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 4K) was efficient in picking up his 2nd win of the postseason, while Jesus Rodriguez (6.1IP, 6H, 5ER, 0BB, 5K) was better than his figures suggested.

Game 3 - Wellington Fury vs Whangarei Sluggers

Wellington busted out today, scoring 10 runs through the 3rd and 5th innings to take the game out of Whangarei’s reach. Final score: 11-5. Carl Bristcoe homered for the Fury, while Alan Sneddon and Jack Hale cleared the fences for Whangarei. Rodney Butterell (3.2IP, 6H, 7ER, 2BB, 2K) highlighted what many analysts felt about Whangarei’s rotation: that it was only 2 men deep. Ashley Barry (8.0IP, 5H, 5R, 3ER, 1BB, 5K) took his 2048 postseason record to 3-0.

Game 4 - Wellington Fury vs Whangarei Sluggers

This game had a bit of everything, the Fury getting on the board early before seeing Whangarei overtake them, then clawing their way back to level pegging. 38 y/o Phillip Tinter showed he still had it, going long with a 2-run shot in the 1st. Marcos Lopez went deep in the 6th to make it a 1-run game, but the big home runs were yet to come. With the scores knotted at 4 after 9, 23 y/o rookie Yong-jun Chu led off the 10th with a solo HR to put Whangarei ahead. 2 outs later Lindsay Colson added an insurance run with a solo HR of his own, and that run came in handy as Lopez gave Wellington a sniff in the bottom of the inning with his 2nd jack of the night. But Gordon Anderton rallied, getting 2 weak grounders to end the game and see Whangarei win 6-5. They were off to the Championship round! Northard (5.1IP, 5H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K) managed to not record 3 straight postseason losses. Spear (6.0IP, 7H, 4ER, 1BB, 6K) was adequate on the other side of the mound.

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Box Scores

[Izz]

2048 Championship Series - Perth Heat vs Whangarei Sluggers

Preview: The Heat had made the postseason courtesy of a pennant win, but had the worst regular season record of all the playoff teams. Yet here they were, looking to snare their 1st ever Championship victory. They were up against the Sluggers, who were also hunting their maiden Championship.

The pundits were struggling to pick a winner, noting that Perth’s offense would have a field day against the lower half of Whangarei’s rotation, but at the same time conceding that Whangarei would likely score plenty too, as Perth were only 13th-best defensively in 2048. To make matters even harder, both sides had split their regular season encounters 4-4.

Perth had done without Beau Riseley, Connor Rowling and Martin Valentin during the course of their postseason, Riseley an especially big loss as he’d played every game of the regular season, injuring himself in the final game. It was the first documented injury of his entire career. Valentin, however, would be available for this series, Perth’s medical staff declaring him “fighting fit.”

Whangarei were without starting pitcher Roger Mangan, a huge loss, as well as injury-prone, yet valuable Alastair Tierney.

Whatever the outcome, whoever won this series would be making history!

Game 1

Ian Wiltshire (10-11, 4.70 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 1.56 WHIP), who’d won both his postseason starts thus far, drew the Game 1 start for Perth. He would face off against Wilson Lara (13-12, 4.50 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 1.60 WHIP), who could blow guys away but might just as easily lose his range and forget where the plate was.

Orpen’s 2-run HR in the top of the 1st set the tone for Perth, and they kept on finding spaces in the outfield, hitting 4 doubles and 2 triples. Orpen hit 1 of those triples, as well as another 2-run HR, icing on the cake in the 9th. While Whangarei put together the same amount of hits as Perth, all they could manage were singles, Noah Geoghegan going 4-4 in the losing effort. Final score: 10-3 Perth.

Lara (5.2IP, 7H, 7ER, 4BB, 5K) had a rough night, finding himself in trouble far too often. Wiltshire (7.0IP, 7H, 1ER, 3BB, 6K) got the win, racking up 120 pitches in the process. Orpen was 3-5, with 4RBI and 3 runs scored.

Game 2

Whangarei were hoping Carlo Avery (7-14, 4.47 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 1.54 WHIP) was still having nightmares after his Preliminary Finals outing. The game promised to be a run-fest, with the Sluggers putting Rodney Butterell (4-13, 6.23 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 1.77 WHIP) on the mound.

Warren Danvers’ solo shot in the 1st didn’t dent that idea, but from then the scoring dried up until the 5th, when Alan Dulihanty swatted a 2-run shot to put Whangarei in front. Butterell was conceding hits but getting himself out of jams, the commentators noting that his defense was making him look worse than he was. Noah Geoghegan’s 3-run blast in the 7th was part of a 4-run inning, extending Whangarei’s lead further. Perth dragged 2 back in the 8th, and got runners on the corners in the 9th, but Anderton got a regulation grounder to second to end the game. Final score: 6-3 Whangarei.

Butterell (6.2IP, 10H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K) got the win, a couple of teammates telling the press, “He’ll be reminding us about that for the next couple days, for sure.” Avery (5.0IP, 7H, 2ER, 4BB, 3K) was better than his previous time on the mound, but still got the L next to his name.

Game 3

This was the pitching matchup everybody wanted to see: Adrian Duggan (15-9, 3.81 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.26 WHIP; 2-0, 0.87 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 0.82 WHIP in the playoffs) versus Allan Spear (16-6, 3.26 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.17 WHIP), who was having a career year.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well as the advertisers might’ve hoped. Spear looked tentative during warmups, repeatedly massaging his shoulder. He started the bottom of the 1st, though, but after Byung-ho Moon crushed a weak first-pitch fastball 461 feet over right centre, Spear signalled to the trainer and headed from the field.

The disruption to the Sluggers’ pitching plans was a likely factor in the eventual scoreline, Perth regularly adding runs (4 in the 3rd, 2 in the 4th, 5 in the 7th). Orpen and Duncalf both homered, and while Patrick Maggs’ 3-run HR in a 4-run 9th gave the visitors slightly more respectability the result was still a shellacking: 12-5 Perth.

Duggan (8.2IP, 8H, 5ER, 2BB, 3K) very nearly went the whole game, giving the Perth pen some rest, while Whangarei used 6 relief arms, and would be hoping whoever started tomorrow’s game could chew through some innings. The only good news was that it didn’t look like Spear’s injury was major; the team doctor said 3-4 days without any pitching and he should be okay. That meant he might be back later in the series. If Whangarei lasted that long.

Game 4

Wilson Lara would start on limited rest. Perth put Roderick Donovan (17-11, 4.56 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 1.45 WHIP), who’d spent the 1st half of the season wearing Whangarei colours, on the mound.

The Sluggers scored 2 in the 1st, through play typical of their season. Sneddon walked on 4 pitches to lead the game off, stole 2nd on the 1st pitch of the next at-bat, then went from 2nd to home off Yong-jun Chu’s follow-up single. Chu took on the throw to advance to 3rd off Maggs’ single, then hustled home on what turned out to be a U4-3 double play.

Warren Danvers evened it up in the 5th with a 2-run HR, and Perth went 2 ahead in the bottom of the 8th via back-to-back doubles. Whangarei weren’t cowed though, Sneddon’s double off the wall sparking a 2-run rally in the 9th which saw the game tied up once more. The score stayed locked at 4 through the 10th and 11th before Maggs pulled one over the leftfield fence in the 12th to put Whangarei up by 1.

Todd Considine threw the bottom of the 12th. He allowed a 1-out single to Byung-ho Moon but induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play from Li Delzoppo to see Whangarei to a 5-4 win.

Lara (6.0IP, 7H, 2ER, 0BB, 8K) had his good stuff today, while Donovan (7.0IP, 8H, 2ER, 5BB, 1K) was lucky not to give up a lot more runs.

Game 5

The Sluggers seemed to be sticking with their 3-man rotation, starting Butterell. He would be up against Wiltshire, who was yet to put a foot wrong this postseason.

The Heat scored in the bottom of the 1st, but that was about all they would do as Butterell pitched possibly the game of his career. After allowing a double in the 1st, he’d concede a single in the 4th but that was it. When he eventually left in the bottom of the 9th (his final out was a K) he had every commentator across every stream covering the event effusively singing his praises.

In the meantime, the Sluggers had clawed their way into the lead, adding runs bit by bit. Jack Hale hit a 2-run HR in the 6th, representing the biggest run-scoring inning of the match, while Matt Davidson’s solo shot in the 9th capped off the 5-1 victory.

Butterell (8.1IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 3K) was quickly writing himself into Slugger folklore, while Wiltshire (6.0IP, 8H, 4ER, 5BB, 3K) looked tired in registering his 1st loss of this postseason.

Game 6

Back at home and 1 game away from a maiden Championship, Whangarei were excited to announce Spear had recovered from his sore shoulder and would start Game 6, in his words, “Raring to smash those corners.” Carlo Avery got the nod for Perth.

Both sides traded blows through the 1st 3 innings before Perth scored 4 in the 4th to go ahead 6-3. Only 1 of those 4 runs was credited as earned, Chu’s error fielding a regulation grounder proving costly. Whangarei pulled 1 back in the 5th, but that was all the scoring in the game as the offense dried up. Final score: 6-4 Perth and we were headed to Game 7 for the 1st time in several years!

Avery (7.1IP, 9H, 4ER, 2BB, 2K) did enough to get the win as well as provide valuable rest for his bullpen, while Spear (3.2IP, 7H, 6R, 3ER, 1BB, 0K) looked below his best, as was to be expected. Bywaters recorded his 5th postseason save.

Game 7

Perth’s decision to hold Duggan back was looking like a masterstroke, while Whangarei’s decision for Game 7 starter had a whole lot of people scratching their heads. 37 y/o Antenor Gandarela (12-9, 4.97 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.40 WHIP) had made 2 relief appearances so far in the postseason, his Game 3 outing in this series proving particularly expensive.

Wilson Lara, when interviewed the night before as to whether he felt he was up to starting another game in the series on short rest, had responded confidently, “Of course. It’s Game 7 of the Championship Series. What pitcher hasn’t dreamed of starting that one?” But Gandarela got the nod, and skipper Jose Guerrero had plenty of faith in his veteran starter. “He will do a good job, of course,” Guerrero said in the prematch presser. “He has a cool head and a very big desire to lead this team to victory.”

Perth immediately loaded the bases in the top of the 1st with 1 out, but Gandarela got Valentin to pop out to 1st and sat Panther down on strikes to get out of trouble. The score stayed locked at 0 through the 1st 5 and a half innings, even though Gandarela almost constantly had someone on-base. The Whangarei defense appeared nervous, too, committing 2 errors on plays they would’ve made any other day of the season.

The drought was broken in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 6th. Maggs and Jerry Skuse both singled to lead off the inning, seeing Duggan pulled to be replaced by Brock Wanhalla. Lindsay Colson, next up, watched the 1st 3 pitches sail past. Then, with a 2-1 count, he unleashed a flat line drive over rightfield. It never got that high off the ground, but it never looked like coming down either. It cleared the fence above the despairing RF’s glove for a 3-run HR. Colson couldn’t help a little pirouette once he reached home plate. He’d already doubled and tripled, with the possibility of a cycle high.

The Sluggers hustled in another run in the 7th, while Perth continued to be unable to get anything going. Gordon Anderton came out to the mound in the top of the 9th and struck out Duncalf swinging to get the inning started. He didn’t fare quite so well on the next 2 batters though, Trew singling wide of the shortstop and Damon McKinna’s nubber just staying fair down the 3rd-base line for an infield single. Byung-ho Moon flied out to centre and the Sluggers were 1 out away from victory. Li Delzoppo slapped a 1st-pitch double into the gap between centre and right and both runners came home.

Suddenly it was 4-2 with the tying run at the plate. Could Perth pull off a miracle? Anderton was sent to the showers (though he only went as far as the dugout), to be replaced by Logan Dale, while Delzoppo was replaced by slightly faster pinch-runner Gadsden. Warren Danvers was at-bat and everybody in the stadium was silent. First up, he got a fastball on the outside half of the zone and couldn’t keep his bat on his shoulder, hitting a groundball towards 2nd. Danvers wasn’t a quick runner, so Geoghegan took his time firing the ball to 1st, getting Danvers by half a step.

4-2 Whangarei, giving them a maiden Championship! Perth’s drought would continue.

Gandarela (5.2IP, 7H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K) proved to be an ace up the sleeve for Whangarei, though it was Considine (1.2IP, 0H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K) who got the win. Duggan (5.0IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K) pitched well, but it wasn’t enough. Colson didn’t get a cycle, but his 3-4 (all XBH) with 3RBI was enough to net him Player of the Game.

Series Awards

Hurler of the Series: This went to new Whangarei folk hero Rodney Butterell (2-0, 15.0IP, 6K, 1.20ERA).

Slugger of the Series: Patrick Maggs (.379/.394/.621, 2HR, 9RBI).

[Izz]

2048 Championship-winning Sluggers

[Izz]

2048 Season Leaderboards

[Izz]

2048 Awards

Gold Gloves

Pitcher: Wendell Moule (Central Coast Thunder)
Catcher: Martin Leeder (Darwin Diggers)
First Baseman: Ismael Aguirre (Central Coast Thunder)
Second Baseman: Owen Delaney (Hobart Prospects)
Third Baseman: Bill Makepeace (Auckland Metros)
Shortstop: Gordon Scammell (Auckland Metros)
Left Fielder: Sterling Bull (Central Coast Thunder)
Center Fielder: Isaac Blythe (Central Coast Thunder)
Right Fielder: Glen Lock (Canberra Cavalry)

Rookie of the Year

24 y/o Cavalry CF Zach Barlow got the RotY gong. He hit .306/.356/.557, 125-409, with 77 runs, 28 doubles, 6 triples, 21HR, 60RBI, 31BB, 11SB, in 441PA. He had a 4.7 WAR and a 40.8 VORP.

26 y/o Brian Waddington (.294/.380/.455, 21HR), Bandits’ 1B, and a 14th round draft pick back in 2043, came 2nd, while Cowboys 1B, 23 y/o Ed Geoghegan (.280/.367/.467, 24HR) was 3rd.

Skipper of the Year

It was no surprise to see Jose Guerrero, Sluggers skipper, win Skipper of the Year. Nobody else had even come into media consideration.

Hurler of the Year

Most in the media considered the pitching class of 2048 one of the weakest in the history of the league, and didn’t bother talking about HotY much in the lead up. The winner was Aces young gun Dermott Downes, who went 19-10, with a 3.09 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, and 143 punch outs in 221.2 IP. His WAR was 4.1 and his VORP 58.4.

Allan Spear was runner up, and Lao Hsiao (17-7, 3.57 ERA, 4.39 FIP, 1.25 WHIP), who’d wound up pitching relief in the postseason, came 3rd.

Slugger of the Year

Would Brock Wakely finally win Slugger of the Year after posting his best ever season at 34 years of age?

The answer was a cruel no. Jacob Blanksby was the name read out, and he was certainly also a deserving winner. For the year he hit .363/.461/.697, 190-524, with 107 runs, 40 doubles, 45HR, 122RBI, 93BB, and a surprising 2 stolen bases (without getting caught once) from 628PA. He finished the year with a WAR of 10.1 and a VORP of 103.9, the 3rd-best ever.

Wakely (.327/.429/.616, 43HR) came 2nd, while Manuel Salinas (.379/.470/.490, 5HR) finished with the bronze medal.

[Izz]

2048 Career Leaderboards

[Izz]

Offseason

2048 Notes

ERA in the AUNZBL dropped to 4.37, the lowest since 2044. Surprisingly, BA increased a point, to .268.

BL Wrap-up

The Havana Toleteros defeated the Georgetown Piratas 4-2 in the Serie de Campeonato to win their 1st BL title.

Adrian McHugh (.316/.380/.546, 17HR) of the Locos won Rookie of the Year honours.

Timothy Mossop (12-4, 2.44 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.14 WHIP) spent 6 seasons in the AUNZBL minors, spending 2 and a half seasons in AAA-ball before filing for minor league free agency and heading to the BL to play for San Jose. The move paid off, as he won the 2048 Jarra de Oro.

Alec Brajak (.339/.395/.578, 25HR) was loving everything about the Lower Americas, he’d told visiting media earlier in the season. Now he had even more reason to be happy, having taken home the 2048 Bateador de Oro.

Notable Club Happenings

Auckland: Vince Dickson had 3 Championship rings to his name, as well as 3 Skipper of the Year awards, in 6 seasons managing the Metros. Prior to 2048 the Metros had never won less than 93 games. In 2048 they went 77-85, and Dickson got shown the door. He could only shrug when questioned by media and say, “That’s the way it goes sometimes, I guess.”

Brisbane: Bandits’ GM Jose Mendez retired.

Cairns: GM Juan Alvarado got the boot. He’d been at the Crocs for 2 seasons.

Christchurch: The Cowboys were once again awful in 2048. It’d been 10 years since they’d last made the playoffs and Wesley Fyfe decided a cleanout was in order. To that end, GM Norman Guao was ousted after 1 year in the job, and Juan Lopez found himself looking for work after 4 years as skipper.

Darwin: Most expected Stephen Goodwin to get at least 3 seasons as GM of Darwin, but that wasn’t to be, and Goodwin had to pack his bags and look for new digs.

Newcastle: A year after winning Skipper of the Year and taking Newcastle to within 2 wins of the Championship, Jose Vargas got kicked to the curb, along with 4-year GM Juan Ornelas. BC Quintin Fletcher found himself promoted to manager.

Sydney: Wesley Stephens was regarded by almost all as the most successful GM the Blue Sox had ever had. In 2048 Sydney finished with the best regular season record in the competition, and they’d not once finished a season below .500 during his tenure. However, for reasons known only to owner Brodie Lang and him, Stephens didn’t have his contract renewed and wasn’t retiring either. Neither man was speaking to media and, for once, no anonymous sources within the organization were leaking information either.

Notable Free Agent Signings/Player Contract Extensions

29 Mar: 28 y/o Leo Sweetman (.300/.363/.468, 44HR) signed a 5-year extension with the Metros.

30 Mar: Auckland extended another of their young brigade, 26 y/o Brendon Stennings (.311/.348/.472, 47HR) for 5 years.

30 Mar: Whangarei extended 27 y/o Roger Mangan (51-44, 4.03 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) for a further 3 years.

31 Mar: 26 y/o Glen Lock (.258/.316/.427, 38HR), who’d only become a big-league regular in 2048, signed with the Cavalry for 5 more years.

2 Apr: Brisbane extended 23 y/o Clint Aitcheson (25-18, 4.11 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.33 WHIP) for 5 years. Opinion within the organization was that the 2046 first overall draft pick, who’d gone 14-7 in 2048 with a sub 4.00 ERA, would be the leader of the Bandit rotation in the very near future.

12 May: This year’s crop of free agents included some big names. Some of the free agents were:

25 y/o 1B Ismael Aguirre
29 y/o 1B Quentin Stennings
30 y/o SP Adrian Duggan
28 y/o LF Carl Bristcoe
30 y/o 1B Matt Panther
28 y/o SP Neil Helmrich
27 y/o SP Justin Trembath
30 y/o LF Esteban Madrigal (International Free Agent - had been playing in a still independent Lower American league; was highly rated by scouts as a guy who could hit for average as well as power)
32 y/o 2B Young-tae Lee
35 y/o CL Mauro Contreras
36 y/o 1B Jake Mekville
31 y/o LF Alastair Tierney
36 y/o SP Jaime Midosi (BL)
34 y/o SP Ian Zglinicki
37 y/o SP Jayden Guthrie
31 y/o CF Terence McLaren
29 y/o CF Nelson Saggers
32 y/o RF Greg Stanley
26 y/o 2B Roy Weichard

21 May: Bandits management were grinning ear to ear at today’s presser, and it was no wonder. They’d landed the biggest scalp of the free agent market, bringing Ismael Aguirre (.294/.351/.540, 233HR) to town for the next 4 years. A few cynical fans remembered the similar fanfare surrounding the signing of Bill Bransington but their doubts were quickly lost in the chorus of jubilation from the rest of the fan base.

26 May: Adelaide signed Carl Bristcoe (.266/.335/.490, 181HR) for 4 years.

27 May: Jayden Guthrie (87-74, 3.96 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.28 WHIP) would go around in the AUNZBL for another season at least, after signing a 2-year deal (the 2nd year being a vesting option based on innings pitched) with Darwin.

29 May: In a move mostly ignored by the casual sports media, but hailed as a masterstroke by the hardcore analysts and foreign league trainspotters, Kununurra signed Esteban Madrigal to a 4 year deal.

3 Jun: Whangarei were determined to remain a competitive force for the foreseeable future, taking every opportunity to say something along those lines at the presser announcing the signing of Neil Helmrich (69-68, 3.99 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 1.24 WHIP) for 7 years.

6 Jun: The Pioneers managed to entice Quentin Stennings (.310/.368/.512, 193HR) to their house on a 4 year contract. The meat of their lineup looked formidable going into 2049.

7 Jun: 32 y/o Wan-ling Tan (.274/.317/.423, 143HR) would continue his career at the Aces after agreeing to a 4 year extension.

12 Jun: Brisbane announced the addition of 4-time Championship winner Young-tae Lee (.290/.396/.460, 212HR) to their squad today. He’d signed for 4 years.

14 Jun: Matt Panther (.290/.395/.475, 151HR) re-signed with the Heat for 5 years. He was confident his team would snare a maiden Championship sooner rather than later. “Within the next 2 seasons, I’d say,” he said.

15 Jun: Alastair Tierney (.291/.349/.443, 103HR) would turn out in Blue Sox uniform for the next 6 years, injury permitting. A lot of Sydney fans questioned the length of the contract.

15 Jun: Perth slotted another puzzle piece into place, signing Mauro Contreras (43-33, 258 sv, 1.94 ERA, 2.46 FIP, 0.91 WHIP) for 3 years.

20 Jun: The Thunder had gone to pains to shrug off the loss of Aguirre, and today made a show of presenting Adrian Duggan (77-59, 4.05 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) to media with news that he would be on the Central Coast for the next 7 years.

4 Aug: The frenetic early pace of the offseason died down to practically dead for well over a month, before Christchurch broke the silence by announcing the signing of Terence McLaren (.258/.321/.413, 121HR) for 2 years.

7 Aug: With Brodie Backhouse gone until at least February, a lot of Blue Sox fans had been wondering who would take over the reins at closer. Young Bryan White had filled in at the end of last season and Kade Clark was an option, as was Brendan Sheppard. Sydney threw another name into the mix, today signing 36 y/o veteran Rowan Belgrove (58-80, 312 sv, 3.62 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.27 WHIP). 4th on the all-time saves leaderboard, Belgrove couldn’t automatically assume the closer role was his, Sydney skipper Arthur Hudson said. He’d have to compete for it with everybody else at spring training.

13 Aug: Justin Trembath (57-63, 4.33 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 1.41 WHIP) finally settled on a team, signing on the dotted line with Adelaide. It was a 7 year deal.

29 Aug: Darwin and Nelson Saggers (.264/.318/.423, 126HR, +108.5ZR at CF) agreed to terms for a 1 year contract.

21 Sep: 37 y/o Richard Lewis (.314/.413/.433, 119HR) led the AUNZBL in career OBP, triples (103), and stolen bases (407). The 135 runs he scored in 2039 was still a season record, and the 2632 hits he’d accumulated by the end of the 2048 season put him 2nd on the active career leaderboard, and 5th on the overall leaderboard. Still, age was catching up to him, and it was a sad fact he’d not looked the same since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament midway through the 2044 season. So it was no surprise to hear he was heading offshore to continue his career. He’d signed a 2-year deal with the Montreal Prosperity and marked the first real AUNZBL superstar to head to the North American competition.

Notable Trades

8 Apr: Adelaide acquired 28 y/o CF Austin De san Miguel (.280/.351/.406, 36HR) and cash off Newcastle in exchange for 2 minor leaguers, 1 still with plenty of development needed and the other on the cusp of the majors. De san Miguel was coming off a 5.8 WAR season.

27 May: In an unusual move, Auckland consummated a trade with division rivals Wellington that seemed to favour the Fury far more than it did them. They sent 28 y/o 1B/OF Leo Sweetman (.300/.363/.468, 44HR), who'd they only signed to an extension 2 months earlier, down the island in return for 31 y/o 2B Al Chivers (.255/.344/.409, 75HR) and an average pitching prospect.

3 Jun: Whangarei acquired 30 y/o utility Vaughan Willmott (.298/.324/.365, 7HR) and cash from Kununurra in exchange for 3 prospects.

6 Jun: The Sluggers continued their offseason hive of activity, moving 28 y/o 3B Jack Hale (.241/.341/.399, 94HR) to Melbourne in exchange for 31 y/o SS Al Merritt (.263/.313/.376, 60HR) and a pitching prospect.

Notable Injuries

10 Apr: 22 y/o Roos’ 3B Bradley Courcha had yet to get his driver’s license, saying he preferred public transport. He might change his mind now, though, after getting mugged 500 metres from the bus stop closest to his house. He bravely fought off his attacker but copped a bruised elbow in the struggle. He couldn’t describe his assailant well, only that he wore a hoodie, carried a gun, and “smelled like he’d hit the deodorant way too hard.” His injury wasn’t major and it was hard to tell if any life lessons had been learned.

30 Sep: Wellington would be without Leo Sweetman for at least the first 6 weeks of their campaign. He’d fractured his tibia.

NABA Wrap-up

The Jamestown Originals claimed their 3rd straight NABA title, beating out Carmel by 1 game. Word was the other owners wanted a change to the season format, with some form of postseason added.

25 y/o Harris Roda of the Carmel Generals won the North Cascades Award. Roda had made it to AAA in the AUNZBL before heading to the NABA, where he hit .312/.395/.573, with 12HR, in his rookie season.

Naohiro Ishii had made the jump from BL to NABA in 2048, and won the Yosemite Award with an 11-3 season. He had an ERA of 3.24, an FIP of 3.36, and a WHIP of 1.08.

Jose Salazar took out the Yellowstone Award for the 2nd year running, hitting .314/.425/.661, with 20HR.

Other Notes

There weren’t as many Player Union rumblings during this offseason, though whether that was because of a shift in attitude or because they were waiting to see how the potential backroom ownership powerplays would unfold was hard to know.

The Venom could lay claim, to statisticians at least, to the most successful offseason. They’d added a whopping 20.1 WAR (though only acquired 3 new players to do so). The Diggers had added 10.8 WAR, while the Fury and Roos (-10.7 and -10.1 respectively) were the offseason’s biggest losers.

[Izz]

2049 Preseason Predictions

Coastal Division: The Venom's astute acquisitions would see them in good stead, and they would run away with the division. Last season's Championship contenders, the Heat, would lose more than 90 games.

East-West Division: The Bandits would be at the top of this heap, with the Thunder a few games back.

NZ Division: Whangarei would be too strong, though Auckland and Wellington would both have their moments.

Southern Division: This would be the tightest division, with Melbourne and Sydney battling it out. Melbourne would prevail in the end.

Wildcard: Sydney and Central Coast would snare the 2 wildcard slots.

Slugger of the Year: Ismael Aguirre was the mass favourite, though Manny Gallo would provide stiff competition and would win the HR race.

Hurler of the Year: This would be a 3-horse race, according to the experts, between Jing-zhong Ling, Roger Mangan, and Lance Ralston. There also promised to be plenty of mixups during highlights packages, as both Angelo Spear (CEN) and Allan Spear (WHA) were picked to have good years.

[Izz]

2049/2050 Season - October

Notable Performances

4 Oct: Noah Akhurst wasn’t a name familiar to many fans outside of Canberra, and even among them his name might cause a few head scratches. He’d been their backup catcher last season, but had started 2049 in the everyday role. Today he went 3-3, with 1 walk, 3 runs scored, and 4RBI. That didn’t sound especially remarkable, until one saw that his 3 hits were all home runs. Akhurst wasn’t a noted power hitter, his season-best total 19 in 2047 (between AAA and the majors), and simply said after the game, “Sometimes you’re in the zone, y’know. Today I was in the zone and got pitches to hit.” Canberra still went down 7-6 to Wellington, thanks to the Fury scoring 4 in the top of the 9th to snatch victory.

5 Oct: Andre England finished the 2048 season with a 20-game hit streak, and hadn’t let a pesky little thing called the offseason put him off his stride. Today he hit in his 5th straight game of the new campaign, bringing his streak up to 25 games. He would go hitless the following night.

9 Oct: Adelaide’s Austin De san Miguel recorded a 20-game hit streak.

11 Oct: The season’s 1st Player of the Week Award went to the Crocs’ Manny Gallo. The big hitting 1B was .481/.548/.815 over the week, his 13-27 including 3 doubles and 2HR.

12 Oct: The Fury gave the Aces a 15-1 beating today. Amongst the carnage, Wellington’s Rory Budd went 5-7, including a double and a HR.

14 Oct: De san Miguel’s hit streak ended at 23.

16 Oct: Sterling Powell recorded the season’s 1st shutout, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk as he led the Thunder to a 6-0 victory over Adelaide. He struck out 3.

17 Oct: The Venom got revenge on Central Coast today, southpaw Karl Lang shutting them out on the back of 5 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 7 as Adelaide cruised to an 8-0 victory.

17 Oct: Until getting picked up in the expansion draft by Kununurra last season, Gerry Burton had spent most of his time in the Blue Sox system playing AAA-ball and occasionally poking his head into the bigs. In 2048, the Pioneers played him as their regular LF, and he’d hit .312/.368/.438 to repay the favour. He was again an everyday player in 2049, and this day went 5-5, with 2 doubles, to help the Pioneers wallop Hobart 12-2.

18 Oct: Brisbane’s Vince Hudswell picked up Player of the Week, going .522/.577/1.043, 12-23, with 3 doubles, 3HR, and 3BB.

24 Oct: Logan Neilson pitched a strong 7.1 innings today to lead Adelaide to a 6-1 victory over Newcastle. The win was the 173rd of his career, putting him at 10th equal on the all-time wins leaderboard. He was tied with Luigi Crabtree, and only 1 win behind #9 on the list, Keiran Tennant. At 38 y/o and 27 wins off 200, even Neilson admitted that milestone was unlikely. Still, he could see himself getting to at least the #6 spot by the end of the season. Current #6, Paul McKinna, had won 180 games during his career.

25 Oct: This week’s PotW went to Marcos Lopez. The Fury 1B hit .548/.548/.903, 17-31, with 5 doubles and 2HR.

27 Oct: The Crocs slumped to their 10th straight loss, going down 13-7 to Perth. They still boasted the league leader in BA, with catcher Zachary Woollett hitting .444.

29 Oct: The off-day on the 28th came at a good time for the Crocs. They were able to recollect and today ended their losing skid with a 12-8 victory over Canberra.

29 Oct: In the above-mentioned game, Crocs’ CF Sam Ross became the latest player to accumulate a 20-game hit streak.

29 Oct: Bob Davies kept the Bandits to 0, allowing only 6 hits and 1 walk in the shutout. He struck out 5 and Sydney strolled to an 8-0 victory.

30 Oct: Dermott Downes conceded 4 hits and 4 walks, fanning 6, to lead the Aces to a 6-0 shutout win over Adelaide.

Notable Injuries

5 Oct: Roderick Donovan would miss most of Perth’s season thanks to a shoulder impingement.

7 Oct: Christchurch offseason signing Xadreque Neiva wouldn’t be back on the mound for at least a year after being diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff.

11 Oct: Darwin SP Gabriel Villegas was likely to be on the DL until at least the end of February. He had radial nerve compression.

15 Oct: Craig Hardy (.389/.476/.519, 0HR) would be out of the Kununurra lineup for the next month courtesy of a sprained knee.

19 Oct: Auckland would be without the services of defensively excellent 3B/SS Bill Makepeace (.220/.258/.356, 1HR) for the next 6 weeks while he recuperated from a strained medial collateral ligament.

19 Oct: Blue Sox superstar Brock Wakely (.226/.329/.403, 3HR) was set for at least a month on the DL thanks to a torn thumb ligament.

23 Oct: Ashley Snijders (.319/.448/.507, 3HR) would miss around 6 weeks playing time because of a hamstring tear.

24 Oct: Melbourne’s Wan-ling Tan (.284/.333/.420, 2HR) had strained his bicep. He’d be on the DL at least 5 weeks.

26 Oct: Christchurch were playing .500 ball, but Norman Stone (.296/.341/.407, 1HR) wouldn’t be helping them stay there over the next 4 weeks. He’d herniated a disc in his neck.

Notable Trades/Signings

4 Oct: Rex Rees (.307/.411/.504, 423HR) just kept on turning up for more. He’d signed a minor league contract with the Aces and immediately been promoted to their big league bench. Almost 44 y/o, Rees said he felt he still had a “couple good swings” left in him.

Prompted by his return (yet again), a lot of baseball programs ran discussion panels on whether the introduction of AUNZBL-sponsored leagues such as the BL and NABA had served to increase player longevity. All agreed that they had. While Rees was 1 of only 2 players over 40 y/o in the AUNZBL (Mildren was the other), the BL and NABA had plenty of examples of players still going at 40+. Other well-known veterans who were still regulars in their teams included Dylan Cully (42 y/o, Jamestown Originals), Ramiro Madrigal (42 y/o, Memphis Academics), and Patrick Gulledge (41 y/o, Guayaquil Esmereldas - though Gulledge had spent a good portion of 2048 in the newly-established BL minors).

5 Oct: Sydney signed 37 y/o Jaime Midosi (62-37, 3.53 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.16 WHIP in 8 BL seasons) to a 2-year deal.

16 Oct: Rees announced that he would finally retire from all forms of baseball at season’s end. He’d played 1 game for Melbourne so far this season, going 1-4 with 1RBI. At the time of his announcement Rees led the AUNZBL in career VORP (932.30 - over 90 ahead of 2nd-best, Alastair Mildren) and WAR (91.39 - .22 ahead of Mildren). Rees didn’t call a presser to make his announcement; he just released a statement through official Aces channels. In that statement he said, “I don’t expect any fuss to made over me this season; all the fuss that could possibly be made already happened when I headed over to the BL. I’m just stoked I could keep playing this wonderful game this long, and doubly stoked that I could finish up back in the AUNZBL.” He probably didn’t need to worry about too many accolades; most fans had their focus well and truly elsewhere.

29 Oct: Brisbane and 23 y/o Vince Hudswell (.359/.406/.652, 6HR) agreed to a 5-year contract extension.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 31 y/o Esteban Madrigal, Kununurra’s offseason acquisition that had all the commentators arguing during spring training (‘he can’t be any good because he played in the Lower Americas but never made the BL’ - ‘this guy has the most amazing, natural swing we’ve ever seen; he’ll tear this competition up’), took home the season’s 1st RotM. The outfielder went .261/.354/.514 during the month, collecting 29 hits from 111 at-bats. He scored 22 runs, hit 4 doubles and 8HR, drove in 24 runners, and drew 17 walks.

Hurler of the Month: Whangarei’s Roger Mangan was a shining light in a team that had started slow out of the gates. He went 4-2 from 6 starts in October, with a 1.45 ERA, 2.46 FIP, and 0.85 WHIP. In 43.1 IP he sent back 33 batters on strikes. At month’s end he was leading the league in ERA, FIP, WHIP, K/BB (5.50) and WAR (1.7).

Slugger of the Month: Brendon Stennings was an instrumental factor in the Metros’ early success, hitting .425/.469/.700 across the month, his 51-120 including 27 runs scored, 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 6HR. He also drove in 21, walked 10 times, and stole 3 bases. He was the only player in the league with more than 50 hits, and also led the AUNZBL in wOBA (.496), ISO (.365), XBH (18), and TB (84). He was tied for the lead in runs scored.

Other Notes

Coastal Division: The Venom bolted out of the gates, winning 20 games in October, to lead the rest of the sluggish division by 7 games. Perth were next best, 3 games below .500.

East-West Division: Three teams spent the month neck and neck... and neck. On November 1st it was the Thunder with their noses in front, leading Brisbane and Kununurra by a solitary game.

NZ Division: The Metros had the early advantage in the NZ, ahead of Wellington by 3. The Cowboys and Sluggers were a further game behind, just below .500.

Southern Division: The Aces and Blue Sox were duking it out in the Southern, Melbourne 1 game ahead at the end of the month.

Wildcard: Brisbane and Kununurra were currently 1 game ahead of Sydney and Wellington.

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Zachary Woollett (.446/.500/.683, 6HR) was terrorizing opposition pitching to begin 2049, leading the league in BA, OBP and OPS.

Benjamin Ziersch (.333/.380/.684, 11HR) had shot out to an early 3-run lead in the HR race, with a pack of hitters behind him on 8HR. He also led the league in RBI (32).

Fan favourite Alan Sneddon (.237/.405/.340, 2HR) had started the season off slow when it came to hitting but his eye was better than ever. He’d drawn 27 walks so far, leading all comers by 2.

Pancho Aguilera had a different role at the Venom this season. Having started every single game of his AUNZBL career before 2049, he was now in the closing role, a change he admitted “took some getting used to.” He was making a good fist of it so far, having recorded 10 saves in October, 1 more than any other reliever.

Standings, Nov 1

[Izz]

OotPB TV's Most Popular Players - 2049

Every November, Out of the Park Baseball TV did an extensive fan survey, contacting every person with a club membership in a bid to find out who the most popular players among fans were.

This season's top 5 were:

5. Bill Bransington

A somewhat surprising entry, it seemed Bill Bransington still had pull with the fans, even at 39 y/o and having only had 1 good season in the last 9. Perhaps it was because he had just reached the 400 HR plateau, but in reality it appeared to be his carefree manner and goofy grin that fans liked. Known for his funny post match interviews and being willing to do absurd things for charity (during the offseason he dressed up in a variety of animal suits and danced on street corners in downtown Canberra to raise money for homeless kids), Bransington was also one of those players that fans liked to reminisce about. Except those from Brisbane. Almost to a T, Bandits' fans immensely disliked the jovial veteran.

4. Ismael Aguirre

Why did fans like Aguirre so much? Probably because he could hit a baseball a long, long way. He'd also lit up the league from a young age, slamming 47HRs in the 2044 season, at the age of 20. People also loved his humble, shy demeanour. A couple of seasons back, when a reporter asked him about his love life, Aguirre's ears went a deep shade of red and he started giggling uncontrollably.

3. Manuel Salinas

Salinas looked set to assume the lead position on the career BA leaderboard before the end of the season, and while he wasn't a home run hitter, he was known as fiercely competitive, both in the field and in the batter's box. He was also highly intelligent, and had recently completed an engineering degree at Canberra University. To top things off, he was a voluntary AUNZBL ambassador, meaning he spent a considerable amount of his non-baseball time working in their community outreach programs.

2. Alastair Mildren

It came as somewhat of a surprise that Mildren wasn't the most popular player in the league. The league's career leader in games, at-bats, runs, hits, total bases, HRs, RBIs and, just reached this season, WAR, Mildren was still an everyday player at 41 y/o. In fact, he looked set to once again play every regular season game, something he'd done every year since 2033 (bar 2040, when he missed the 1st week of the season due to not having a team).

Always willing to give a personal interview, his thoughts on other players (he was an avowed fan of Aguirre), the AUNZBL, or anything baseball-related, Mildren had completely turned his image around from his earlier days, when the majority view was that he was a money-grubbing, hold-a-club-for-ransom kind of guy. A native Novocastrian, Mildren sponsored the Newcastle Junior Baseball Association, and also donated plenty to GBIAR (Growing Baseball in the Regions), an independent organization dedicated to promoting and growing the game outside of the cities.

1. Christos Hutchinson

While Hutchinson's popularity certainly related to his baseball pedigree, it also sprang from a couple other things. Firstly, his choice to pursue baseball instead of rugby league (Australia's 2nd-biggest sport behind this great game) had plenty of fans giving him a thumbs-up. Reports out of his high school RL competition suggested he'd been an exciting backrower with a winger's speed and a halfback's ball-playing ability. Every year it seemed like there was talk of some club hoping to lure Hutchinson back across the codes, but he was resolute: baseball was his game. Whether he would've developed into as good a league player as his high school coaches said would never be known, but he was a helluva baseball player, even if he got his fair share of injuries. He'd also helped his popularity no end by dating a string of A-list celebs, and was the star of prime-time baseball reality TV show Behind the Dugout, alongside current girlfriend, actress Lianna Brown (of A Reluctant Sunday and Gravity Well fame). The show was in its 4th season.

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Rounding out the top 10 were:

6. Zachary Woollett
7. Jacob Blanksby
8. Alan Sneddon
9. Brock Wakely
10. Burt Bargenquast

[Izz]

2049/2050 Season - November

Notable Performances

1 Nov: Player of the Week went to Martin Valentin. He’d been tremendous for Perth across the last 7 days, hitting .536/.536/.750, his 15-28 including 4 doubles and a triple.

1 Nov: Cameron Worsfold was dominant against Darwin, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 8, to see Wellington ease to a 9-0 victory. It was Worsfold’s 1st win of the season.

1 Nov: Keiran Pickford thought life was pretty good on the 31st of October, cracking a Grand Slam in an 8-1 Adelaide defeat of Melbourne. Today, though, things got even better for the 27 y/o, as he went yard 3 times. Each HR was a solo affair, but his leadoff dinger in the 9th tied the game up and set the stage for teammate Reginald Litchfield to hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th.

2 Nov: Sam Ross’s hit streak came to an end at 22 games.

5 Nov: Canberra’s Brad Baker went 5-5 to help the Cavalry trample the Prospects 15-8. He scored 3 runs and drove in 1.

6 Nov: The Sluggers had come to life at the back end of October, and today won their 10th straight, downing the Pioneers 14-9. They were now only 2 games back in the NZ and at the top of the wildcard stakes. They would lose the following night.

8 Nov: 24 y/o Metros’ rookie Roland Beckett took out this PotW with a .412/.429/.1.059 effort. What made the week extraordinary wasn’t the 14-34 at the plate, and it definitely wasn’t the 1 double hit or the 1 walk drawn. It was the 7 jacks he hit, including three 2HR games. He also had a 13-game hit streak going.

12 Nov: It took him a while but he finally got there. Bill Bransington hit his 399th HR on the 5th of October and subsequently struggled his way into November, hitting less than .200 for the year. However, today would’ve been sweet. In the bottom of the 1st he hit a 2-run shot, marking #400. The game went to extra innings but a walk-off Travis Vader single in the bottom of the 13th saw Canberra eke out an 8-7 win over Sydney. Bransington was the 7th player to make it to the 400HR mark.

15 Nov: PotW was awarded to Martin Brewster of the Crocs. He went .560/.571/.720, 14-25, with 1 double and 1HR.

16 Nov: Steven Hardy, signed by the Cowboys at the beginning of November as depth, found himself in the bigs and loving it. This day he cracked 5-5, with 2 doubles and a triple, scoring 3 runs in the process to help Christchurch sneak past Sydney 8-7 in extra innings. He scored the eventual winning run, hitting a 1-out triple in the top of the 11th, and coming home off a sac fly.

17 Nov: Alan Sneddon equaled the AUNZBL game record for steals, swiping 4 bases in Whangarei’s 5-2 win over Wellington. In the 5th he walked, stole 2nd on the next pitch, then stole 3rd on the following pitch before heading home on a sac fly. In the 9th he did exactly the same thing before scoring off a single past 2nd. At the conclusion of the game, Sneddon led the league in stolen bases (16), walks (46), and on-base percentage (.477).

18 Nov: Allan Spear gave the Fury goose eggs, conceding just 3 hits in the 6-0 win. He struck out 4 and only took 94 pitches to get through the game.

18 Nov: Roland Beckett had his 5th multi-homer game of the season, slugging 2HR in Auckland’s 9-8 extra-innings win over Hobart. The rookie had 14HR, 2nd in the league behind Benjamin Ziersch (17).

19 Nov: Brendon Stennings hit in his 20th consecutive game.

19 Nov: Gareth Orpen went 5-6 to help the Heat squeeze past the Sluggers 7-6 in 13 innings. The young Perth power-hitter’s night included a solo HR and a triple.

19 Nov: Vic Gerlach of the Thunder also collected 5 hits today, going 5-5 as the Central Coast lost 2-1 in 12 innings to the Cowboys.

22 Nov: Brendon Stennings took home PotW with a .500/.515/1.033 stat-line. His 15-30 included 1 double and 5HR.

26 Nov: Brendon Stennings extended his hit streak to 25 games.

27 Nov: Carl Bristcoe became the latest player to hit 3HR in a game in 2049, going deep thrice in Adelaide’s 11-10 victory over the Prospects. His scored 4 runs in the game and drove in 7 of the Venom’s 11 runs.

28 Nov: Stennings’ streak got busted at 26 games.

29 Nov: PotW this week was Christchurch’s Ed Geoghegan. He went .500/.517/1.036, 14-28, with 3 doubles and 4HR.

30 Nov: Whangarei started the month strong, then slumped a little in the middle, but they finished like they’d started, and today rattled off their 2nd 10-game winning streak of the season, pulling off a 3-2 victory over the Cowboys in 12 innings to get there.

Notable Injuries

8 Nov: Veteran Connor Rowling (.250/.348/.500, 6HR) only played 41 games in 2048 due to injury. He was set to miss at least 5-6 weeks of this season, too, this time with a sore shoulder.

8 Nov: On the back of Rowling’s injury news, Perth received another, bigger blow, learning that Ian Wiltshire (5-1, 3.46 ERA, 4.83 FIP, 1.61 WHIP) would be gone at least 14 months. He needed an elbow ligament reconstruction.

11 Nov: Pioneers’ closer Simeao Cndido (1-2, 8 sv) would be on the DL for the next month with shoulder soreness.

13 Nov: Rowan Belgrove (3-2, 1 sv) was out of the contest to be Sydney’s closer. He also needed an elbow ligament reconstruction, and was facing at least a year on the DL.

23 Nov: Wellington would have to do without hot SP Gavin Harris (6-0, 2.81 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.06 WHIP) for the rest of the season after he tore a rotator cuff.

25 Nov: Craig Hardy (.361/.439/.463, 0HR from 123PA) found himself on the DL again, this time with a sprained ankle. He would likely be out 3-4 weeks.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Roland Beckett capped off an impressive November by taking home RotM. He hit .323/.341/.723 over the month, his 42-130 including a massive 15HR, as well as 5 doubles and 1 triple. He finished the month 3rd on the HR board, with 17.

Hurler of the Month: Paul ‘Wild Card’ Colenutt, who spent all of 2048 sidelined with injury, was 5-0 in November to take out HotM. He had an ERA of 1.40, an FIP of 4.47, and a WHIP of 0.82. He struck out 23 in 45.0 IP.

Slugger of the Month: In a month when so many hitters were teeing off, it was a quiet achiever who won SotM. Patrick Maggs hit .382/.477/.755, his 42-110 including 8 doubles and 11HR. He scored 21 runs, batted in 33 runners, and drew 18 walks.

Media Watch

Alastair Mildren: With all the talk in media circles of player longevity, attention focused once more on Mildren, who was again playing in a poor Newcastle side. And while he was no longer the destructive force he had once been, he was still leading the Roos in HR and holding down 6th spot in the lineup. For the year he was .269/.374/.488, 54-201, his 10HR putting him on 616 for his career. He looked set to break the 3200 hit mark this season, and was even a possibility to be the 1st player to reach 2000 RBI. In a surprising piece of stattage, he was now 3rd on the all-time walks list, and less than 100 behind Maurice Downes, who sat atop the pile with 1557 free passes.

Other Notes

Coastal Division: The Venom (14-14) were only par in November, but that was still enough to extend their advantage over all division rivals by 2. The Crocs (14-14) climbed off the bottom of the division into 2nd place, but at 7 games below .500 it already felt like they, as well as Perth and Darwin, were out of the race.

East-West Division: Things began to separate a little in the East-West. The Thunder (16-12) finished the month 3 games ahead of the Bandits (14-14), and 4 ahead of the Pioneers (13-15).

NZ Division: The Metros (16-12) continued to hold sway, though Whangarei’s (19-9) charge saw them just 1 game back. Wellington (15-13) dropped a game to 4 back, while Christchurch (13-15) dropped further below .500.

Southern Division: The Blue Sox (19-9) jumped into the lead as the Aces (10-18) struggled, starting December 8 games behind.

Wildcard: Whangarei had 1 slot all to themselves, while Brisbane and Wellington were tied up for the 2nd slot, only 1 game ahead of Kununurra.

#

Brendon Stennings (.403/.439/.672, 14HR) managed to stay above .400 going into December. He also led the league in wOBA (.471), hits (96), XBH (33), TB (160), and WAR (3.8). He was tied for the league lead in RBI with 50.

Alan Sneddon (.316/.486/.422, 2HR) seemed to be seeing the ball in slow motion. He led the league in OBP, having already drawn a massive 61 walks. His 23 stolen bases was also a league best, as were his 50 runs scored.

Terence Bansfield (.345/.417/.749, 19HR) shot to the HR lead courtesy of back-to-back 2HR games to finish the month. He also led the league in SLG, OPS, and ISO (.404). His 50RBI saw him tied with teammate Stennings at the top of that board.

Rob Lane (.294/.363/.550, 9HR) hit 8 triples through the 1st 2 months of the season, 2 more than next-best Manuel Salinas (.337/.443/.490, 3HR).

Roger Mangan (8-4, 2.04 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 1.07 WHIP) continued to lead the league in ERA and FIP, as well as WAR (2.7).

Jay Cummins (8-4, 2.34 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 0.95 WHIP) had the league’s best WHIP, and had thrown the most innings (92.1).

Pancho Aguilera was letting a few runs in but had converted 17 save opportunities, continuing to lead the league in that category.

Standings, Dec 1

[Izz]

Just noticed that this thread has passed 17,000 views. Wow! Huge thanks to everybody who's been reading along!!

[Izz]

2049/2050 Season - December

2049 #1 Draft Pick

Darwin had this year’s #1 pick, and went with 19 y/o SP Brad ‘The Wizard’ King. His nickname was certainly apt, as he possessed 5 pitches, and of those projected to have a plus fastball, a stellar changeup, and a good splitter and forkball. He was a hardworking kid and would start his pro career in Short Season A.

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

2048, Mitch Donahue: Finished 2048 at AAA and started 2049 in the bigs, though he clearly wasn’t ready for it. Was now back down in AAA.

2047, Gordon Appleby: Had a good 2048 in the majors, and was still holding down his spot this season. So far, hitting .231/.305/.385, with 6HR. Scouting reports suggested his potential had been revised downwards, and he would be solid if unspectacular at the plate. Defensively, though, he was well above average, with a +2.8 ZR at SS so far this season.

2046, Clint Aitcheson: 7-2 already in 2049, even though his ERA and FIP were a bit high. He still projected to be a star, and a 32-20 record across 2 and a bit seasons wasn’t too bad in a hitter-dominated league.

2045, Vince Hudswell: It now appeared earlier scouting projections that Hudswell would hit for average as well as power were a bit optimistic, with it now looking like he would primarily be a power hitter. He’d begun 2049 well though, his stat-line .283/.344/.493, with 9HR.

Notable Performances

1 Dec: In another extra-innings marathon, the Sluggers went down 4-3 to Christchurch to end their winning streak.

6 Dec: Terence Bansfield scooped the 1st PotW of December. He only played 4 games, but was unstoppable in those, hitting .588/.579/1.588. His 10-17 included 2 doubles and 5HR.

7 Dec: Adrian Walsh went 5-5 as the Crocs brushed off Newcastle 12-4.

8 Dec: Newcastle bounced back, just, shutting the Crocs out 1-0. Armando Velazquez was the hero of the night, allowing a meagre 3 hits while striking out 5. He induced 15 groundball outs in the game.

10 Dec: Karl Bell gave up 5 hits and 0 walks, K’ing 4, to lead Adelaide to an 8-0 pantsing of Perth.

13 Dec: Brisbane’s Harrison Jackson took out PotW with a .500/.583/1.300 stat-line. His 10-20 included 1 double and 5HR. He also walked 4 times and stole 2 bases.

14 Dec: Yong-jun Chu went 5-6 in Whangarei’s 10-9 10-inning win over Cairns.

20 Dec: Perth’s Gareth Orpen was named PotW today. The 25 y/o slugger was having a breakout year, currently sitting 2nd on the BA leaderboards, and not too far back in the HR race. In the last 7 days he hit .667/.741/1.714, 14-21, with 5 doubles, 1 triple and 5HR. He also scored 8 runs and drew 6 walks.

21 Dec: Brock Wakely became the latest hitter to reach the 400HR milestone, doing so with a solo effort in the 3rd inning of Sydney’s 7-1 victory over Newcastle. Wakely, who’d been struggling so far this season, hitting less than .200 until the 20th of December, said after the game, “I don’t know if 400 has been weighing on my mind. I don’t think it has, but maybe. Anyway, let’s see what the rest of the year brings now that this elephant has left the room.” No other players would be within cooee of 400HRs for quite some time. Then next best active player was 37 y/o Beau Riseley, with 336.

26 Dec: The Thunder plummeted to their 10th straight loss, going down 6-5 to Newcastle. Surprisingly, though, they still had a share of the lead in the East-West, with Brisbane only today climbing into a tie for 1st with a 3-0 win over Hobart.

27 Dec: Brad Baker hit .577/.633/1.038 over the past week for the Cavalry to take home PotW. Included in his 15-26 were 1 double, 1 triple, and 3HR. He also scored 10 runs and drew 4 free passes.

28 Dec: The Thunder broke out of their 11-game losing funk, beating Whangarei (on a slide of their own) 7-6.

29 Dec: Brad Acheson restricted the Blue Sox to 6 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs to lead the Pioneers to a 9-0 victory. He struck out 7 along the way.

29 Dec: Keiran Pickford boosted his way to a 20-game hit streak.

31 Dec: Pickford’s streak ended at 21 games.

Notable Injuries

1 Dec: The Thunder would be without regular catcher Jacob Lindner (.325/.370/.548, 10HR) for the rest of the season after he tore a posterior cruciate ligament.

2 Dec: Blair Wurfel’s (2-5, 3.92 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) season was over. The runner-up in the 2048 HotY standings had a torn labrum.

6 Dec: That latest pitcher to find himself on the DL was Brisbane’s Lance Ralston (5-3, 2.51 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.30 WHIP). He would only be on the DL 3-4 weeks though, team doctors reckoned, while he recovered from a rotator cuff strain.

12 Dec: Vince Hudswell (.288/.349/.500, 9HR) would be out around 5 weeks with a fractured finger.

15 Dec: Bad news for Auckland and closer Hayden Henderson (2-4, 17 sv). He’d torn an ulnar collateral ligament, so needed Tommy John surgery. He’d likely be on the DL 13-14 months.

Notable Trades/Signings

2 Dec: The Heat were desperate to resurrect their season, and had worked out a trade with Newcastle that they figured might help them do so. They’d acquired 28 y/o LF Jayden Pye (.305/.406/.460, 9HR) and some cash in return for 30 y/o pitcher Brock Wanhalla (1-0) and a minor league outfielder. While this move certainly shored up their hitting, offense wasn’t so much the problem in 2049 as defense, thanks to their 2 best starters being on the DL.

17 Dec: Perth made another move today, sending 36 y/o Connor Rowling (.250/.348/.500, 6HR in 115PA) and cash to Cairns. They got 29 y/o OF Martin Brewster (.330/.372/.410, 2HR in 218PA) and a pitching prospect in return. The Heat were now 13 games back in the Coastal and word was they were now looking to rebuild for next year.

2049 All Stars

Australian All Stars

SP Bob Davies - SYD - 9-3, 2.52 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.07 WHIP
SP Chong-yee Zhou - AUC - 10-3, 5.09 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.50 WHIP
SP Luke Bodkin - HOB - 3-5, 2.88 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.15 WHIP
SP Allan Spear - WHA - 7-6, 3.98 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.33 WHIP
SP Roger Mangan - WHA - 8-9, 3.54 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.26 WHIP
SP Cooper Gerlach - DAR - 8-6, 3.47 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.21 WHIP
SP Carlo Avery - PER - 4-9, 3.68 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.27 WHIP
MR Brendan Knopp - ADE - 4-0, 1 sv, 1.54 ERA, 2.51 FIP, 1.06 WHIP
MR Alastair Lapthorne - WEL - 2-2, 1.13 ERA, 2.67 FIP, 1.06 WHIP
CL Rhett Thurley - CEN - 3-4, 17 sv, 1.67 ERA, 2.51 FIP, 1.19 WHIP
CL Gordon Anderton - WHA - 1-4, 16 sv, 2.57 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 0.79 WHIP
CL Matthew Taintey - WEL - 2-1, 10 sv, 1.57 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 0.99 WHIP
C Jacob Blanksby - MEL - .342/.434/.684, 24HR
C Zachary Woollett - CAI - .355/.435/.594, 16HR
1B Brendon Stennings - AUC - .380/.412/.585, 15HR
1B Benjamin Ziersch - ADE - .331/.396/.607, 24HR
1B Ed Geoghegan - CHR - .311/.364/.559, 21HR
1B Brad Baker - CAN - .347/.415/.531, 12HR
2B Owen Delaney - HOB - .303/.328/.424, 4HR
3B Bradley Courcha - NEW - .308/.422/.428, 3HR
SS Andre England - NEW - .324/.399/.427, 3HR
SS Cody England - MEL - .316/.339/.436, 5HR
LF Gareth Orpen - PER - .355/.452/.656, 19HR
CF Alan Sneddon - WHA - .313/.475/.430, 4HR
CF Christos Hutchinson - WEL - .339/.386/.391, 0HR
CF Trent Allan - SYD - .319/.425/.502, 11HR
RF Sean Carr - CEN - .332/.394/.525, 14HR
RF Roland Beckett - AUC - .301/.337/.556, 22HR

NZ & Overseas All Stars

SP Logan Neilson - ADE - 8-6, 2.34 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 1.11 WHIP
SP Jay Cummins - WEL - 11-6, 2.68 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 0.98 WHIP
SP Sterling Dunlop - KUN - 7-4, 2.39 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 0.99 WHIP
SP Edwin Kerr - CEN - 6-7, 3.13 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 1.17 WHIP
SP Randall Gulledge - KUN - 8-6, 3.71 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.37 WHIP
SP Wilson Lara - WHA - 9-5, 3.85 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 1.29 WHIP
SP Karl Bell - ADE - 6-3, 3.16 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.12 WHIP
MR Kade Clark - SYD - 4-1, 3.89 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 1.51 WHIP
MR Francisco Martinez - PER - 3-1, 1 sv, 2.32 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 0.91 WHIP
CL Cody Sutcliffe - ADE - 3-1, 10 sv, 2.16 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 0.87 WHIP
CL Rex Herbert - CAI - 3-4, 14 sv, 2.45 ERA, 3.09 FIP, 1.25 WHIP
CL Mauro Contreras - PER - 0-1, 12 sv, 3.47 ERA, 3.03 FIP, 0.94 WHIP
C Greg Bricknell - SYD - .275/.350/.531, 18HR
C Danny Goodwin - KUN - .273/.337/.511, 15HR
1B Terence Bansfield - AUC - .337/.400/.679, 22HR
1B Ismael Aguirre - BRI - .357/.418/.599, 18HR
1B Patrick Maggs - WHA - .303/.390/.544, 20HR
1B Manny Gallo - CAI - .326/.363/.533, 17HR
1B Matt Panther - PER - .287/.422/.453, 9HR
2B Angelo Rankin - CHR - .303/.330/.451, 6HR
3B Rick Clohessy - CAN - .299/.317/.521, 19HR
SS Manuel Salinas - CAN - .323/.431/.454, 3HR
SS Gordon Scammell - AUC - .271/.336/.409, 6HR
LF Keiran Pickford - ADE - .323/.394/.542, 15HR
LF Esteban Madrigal - KUN - .276/.377/.500, 18HR
CF Rob Lane - MEL - .319/.391/.577, 14HR
RF Juan De La Hoya - KUN - .293/.358/.472, 9HR
RF Maximo Moreno - DAR - .293/.313/.376, 1HR

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Roland Beckett made it back-to-back RotM awards, winning this time on the strength of a .312/.367/.560 stat-line. He was 34-109, with 19 runs scored, 7 doubles, 1 triple and 6HR hit, and 31 runners driven in. He drew 8 walks and stole 1 base. He now had 23HRs on the year, putting him 3rd on that leaderboard.

Hurler of the Month: Venom SP Karl Lang won this award. He was 5-1 in December, with a 1.83 ERA, 3.29 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP. He fanned 35 in 44.1 IP but despite his impressive month didn’t make the NZ & Overseas All Stars.

Slugger of the Month: Jacob Blanksby had started the year off slow by his standards, but cut loose in December, hitting .389/.468/.697, 37-109, with 22 runs, 8 doubles, 10HR, 28RBI, and 14BB. He led the league in slugging, OPS, ISO (.332), and XBH (46). His 24 homers put him 2nd in the league.

Other Notes

6 Dec: Perth’s season was rocked by more bad news today, with 26 y/o backup outfielder Byung-ho Moon (.255/.321/.316, 1HR in 110PA) suspended 80 games for illegal drug use. The drug in question was not revealed, with some anonymous sources claiming it wasn’t a PED but rather a recreational drug.

#

Coastal Division: There was no stopping the Venom (21-8) who raced away to a 15-game lead. None of their division rivals were near the .500 mark.

East-west Division: Thanks to Central Coast’s mini-slump (10-19), Brisbane (15-14) crawled into the lead, ahead by 2 at month’s end. Kununurra (14-15) were tied with the Thunder for 2nd, both on exactly .500.

NZ Division: The Metros (17-12) pulled away once more from the Sluggers (12-17), opening up a 6-game lead over their streaky rivals. Wellington, also 12-17, dipped below .500.

Southern Division: Sydney (17-12) extended their divisional advantage to 9 games, with Canberra (17-12) having a good month to pull within 2 games of the .500 mark.

Wildcard: The Sluggers had a 2-game lead in one slot, while Central Coast and Kununurra were tied up in the 2nd spot. The Cavalry and Fury were a further game behind.

#

Brendon Stennings (.380/.414/.592, 16HR) still led the BA boards. He’d also recorded the most hits (136), and rounded the most bases (212).

Benjamin Ziersch (.330/.396/.608, 25HR) held a slender 1HR advantage in the HR race.

Alan Sneddon (.313/.469/.428, 4HR) was on track to obliterate the existing season record for walks. He had 87 so far, putting him on track for 164. The current record was 137, recorded in 2035 by Ramiro Madrigal. His 33 steals also gave him a chance to break that season record (61 - Blair Stewart, 2030). As well as leading the league in OBP, steals, and walks, he had scored the most runs of any AUNZBL player, with 74.

Gareth Orpen (.350/.444/.646, 20HR) was having a year nobody had predicted. He led the league in weighted OBA (.448) and WAR (5.4).

As much as was possible for him, Ismael Aguirre (.363/.422/.622, 20HR) had spent the 1st half of the season flying under the radar. However, by the end of December (he hit .404/.454/.667 during the month) he was beginning to feature on a few leaderboards. He had the 3rd-best BA, 4th-best SLG, 4th-best OPS, 5th-best wOBA (.423), 2nd-most hits (122), 3rd-most doubles (23), 3rd-most RBI (70), 2nd-most XBH (45), 2nd-most bases (209), and 2nd-best WAR (5.2).

Sterling Dunlop (8-4, 2.31 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 0.98 WHIP) led the league in ERA, FIP, WHIP, BB/9 (1.31), K/9 (9.10), K/BB (6.94) and WAR (4.1).

Jay Cummins (11-6, 2.68 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 0.99 WHIP) had the most wins of any starter, was conceding the least H/9 (6.86), and was therefore also leading the league in OAVG (.212). He’d also thrown the most innings, having notched up 137.2 so far this season.

Gustavo ‘Boomerang’ Ortiz had returned to the AUNZBL after a solitary season in 2042. He was leading the league in saves, with 20, but somehow hadn’t made the All Star Game.

Standings, Jan 1

[Izz]

2049/2050 Season - January

Notable Performances

1 Jan: The NZ & Overseas All Stars pulled off a resounding win in this year's All Star Game, beating up on Australia 12-5. Ismael Aguirre hit a Grand Slam.

8 Jan: Beau Riseley became the 8th player to reach the 2500 career hit mark, doing so with his 2nd hit in a 3-1 loss to Darwin. While the 38 y/o Riseley wasn’t quite tracking at the same ferocious pace he’d set in 2048, he was still having a good season, hitting .291/.346/.494 so far, with 16HR.

9 Jan: Angelo Spear helped Central Coast score a big win over their division rivals, Brisbane. He conceded only 5 hits, walking none, as the Thunder tamed the Bandits 10-0. Spear struck out 6 hitters.

9 Jan: Aces' All Star SS Cody England hit in his 20th straight game. His streak was brought to a screeching halt the following night.

9 Jan: Alan Sneddon became the fastest ever player to reach 100 walks for a season. He was 23 walks ahead of the next-best player, Matt Panther, and on track for over 170 free passes for the season. He was also a big chance to break Young-tae Lee’s 2041 season OBP record of .4703.

10 Jan: Ismael Aguirre hit .481/.533/1.000 over the last week on his way to a PotW award. His 13-27 included 1 triple and 4HR. He scored 6 times, collected 10RBI and walked 3 times.

17 Jan: Brock Wakely had well and truly shrugged off his slow start to the season. He collected PotW this week, hitting .550/.609/.750, 11-20, with 1 double and 1HR.

24 Jan: Barry Fry went 5-5, including a triple, to help Whangarei slay the Heat 11-3. Fry scored twice and drove in 3.

24 Jan: In the same game, Alan Sneddon scored 4 runs, the 4th of which marked his 100th run of the season. With 113 walks and 100 runs, he was the 1st player to the runs-walks double-double and way ahead of anybody else.

24 Jan: Benjamin Ziersch had a wow of a week on his way to winning PotW. He hit .379/.419/.828, 11-29, with 1 double and 4HR.

30 Jan: Roger Mangan dropped an anvil on the Cavalry today, shutting them out on the back of only 2 hits. He struck out 6, and got through the 3rd inning on only 3 pitches. Whangarei won 4-0.

31 Jan: Canberra’s Zach Barlow snared PotW. He was .462/.462/1.000 over the last 7 days, his 12-26 including 8 doubles and 2HR.

Notable Injuries

12 Jan: Sean Carr (.320/.379/.517, 17HR) was expected to miss the next 3 weeks thanks to a strained oblique. The Thunder, already sliding, would really struggle without their best hitter.

24 Jan: Canberra, poking their noses in front for the 2nd wildcard berth, could do without today’s news. Manuel Salinas (.322/.420/.440, 5HR) would be out of the game until at least next October. He’d torn a posterior cruciate ligament.

26 Jan: The Cavalry got hit with another season-ending injury today, losing young SP Greg Whalley (7-10, 5.08 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.57 WHIP). He needed radial nerve decompression surgery.

30 Jan: Bradley Fouracre’s (10-3, 4.20 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.33 WHIP) season was over. The Sydney ace had a torn meniscus in his knee.

Notable Trades/Signings

1 Jan: The Thunder started the year off with a signing announcement. 33 y/o SP Jesus Hernandez (6-7, 3.85 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) had agreed to extend his stay on the Central Coast for 3 more years.

2 Jan: Melbourne, dead last in their division, but still with a wildcard shot, acquired 32 y/o 4-time All Star CL Jose Cruz (3-2, 15 sv) from Darwin, in return for 2 prospects. Melbourne also somehow finagled some cash out of the deal.

13 Jan: Today was trade day, with 6 different teams making significant moves. To kick things off, in the morning Whangarei announced they were sending 32 y/o Lindsay Colson (.321/.374/.567, 22HR), in the midst of his best year for some time, plus cash to Canberra in exchange for 28 y/o Barry Fry (.289/.326/.395, 2HR) and a minor leaguer.

13 Jan: Next up, Hobart dealt aging backup catcher Russell Saunders (.354/.426/.542, 1HR in 54PA) and moolah to Darwin, getting 27 y/o 2B Charlie Haynes (.262/.287/.408, 12HR) and a square-jawed pitching prospect.

13 Jan: And the day concluded with Perth milking 4 prospects out of Adelaide’s farm system. To get those prospects, they sent 28 y/o CL Robert Bywaters (3-1, 2 sv), who’d been pitching in a setup role this season, and a suitcase of high-denomination notes.

18 Jan: In a trade that had Auckland fans grabbing their pitchforks, 29 y/o local favourite Terence Bansfield (.310/.372/.627, 25HR), a 3-time All Star and currently tied for 4th in this year’s HR race, was heading to Melbourne. In return, Auckland would receive 33 y/o 2B Wan-ling Tan (.234/.270/.352, 7HR) and a AAA reliever. Nobody in Auckland was quite sure what to make of the move, though rumours of off field issues immediately surfaced. All unsubstantiated, though, and quite different depending on who was speaking.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Esteban Madrigal scooped his 2nd RotM with a good, if not elite, January. He hit .271/.338/.551 over the month, his 32-118 including 6 doubles and 9HR. He scored 22 runs, drove in 16 runners and walked 9 times.

During a Pioneers-Roos series early in the month, Alastair Mildren said regarding Madrigal, “Who is this guy? I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just, who is he? Where did he come from? How come we’ve never seen him before? His swing, man, his swing. I want to make love to that swing.”

Following those comments, OotPB TV decided to do a piece on the softly-spoken slugger with the broken English. They showed it on one of their weekly shows the night of the RotM announcement.

Until coming to the AUNZBL, Madrigal had been playing for a well-established Mexican league. Beisbol Mexicano appeared to be the 2nd-biggest league in the Americas, bigger than NABA, and possibly not that far behind the BL. It also appeared that the BL owners had an unofficial agreement in place to blacklist established BM players.

Madrigal was one of those players. He’d been tearing up the BM for several seasons, hitting nearly 1HR every 2 games, and batting just under .500. But he’d considered his career stalled as he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to play in the BL and thought that meant he’d also be blacklisted from the AUNZBL.

AUNZBL officials who got facetime in the news item stated emphatically that they’d been unaware of any such blacklisting of BM players, and would “vigorously pursue a resolution with the BL owners, if indeed there was such an issue.”

In the end, Madrigal was spotted by an unidentified scout, who assured him he could make it to the AUNZBL, and in it, too. And so he had. For the year he was hitting .280/.370/.516, with 23 doubles and 27HR. His 27HR placed him 4th-equal on the season HR board.

Hurler of the Month: Roger Mangan went 6-0 in January, with a 2.36 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.01 WHIP. He was tied for the league lead in wins, with 14.

Slugger of the Month: Benjamin Ziersch hit .339/.376/.653 during the month, his 40-118 including 7 doubles and 10HR. It was his 2nd double-digit HR month of the season. He scored 23 runs, accumulated 30RBI, and drew 7 free passes. With 35HR on the season, Ziersch led the league by 6 and was still a chance of reaching 50. He had the league’s best SLG (.620), most XBH (61), and most bases in total (285).

Last Year’s Top Players Watch

2048’s Top Rookies

2048 Rookie of the Year, Zach Barlow: Having a fine follow-up season. .298/.344/.520, 117-392, 72 runs, 27 doubles, 3 triples, 18HR, 59RBI, 26BB, 16SB, 424PA.

Brian Waddington: A mid-season trade from Brisbane to Newcastle, Waddington’s sophomore year could be classified as a slump. .248/.324/.405, 90-363, 44 runs, 22 doubles, 1 triple, 11HR, 47RBI, 33BB, 411PA.

Ed Geoghegan: No slump here. .301/.361/.519, 135-449, 60 runs, 20 doubles, 26HR, 71RBI, 37BB, 499PA.

2048’s Top Pitchers

2048 Hurler of the Year, Dermott Downes: Quickly on the path back to obscurity. 9-9 from 23 starts, 5.70 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 90K in 145.1IP.

Allan Spear: 9-8 from 23 starts, 3.81 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 96K in 146.1IP.

Lao Hsiao: ‘Bow wow’ was only a part-time starter this season. 6-4 from 13 starts and 24 total appearances, 5.60 ERA, 5.28 FIP, 1.55 WHIP, 76K in 101.1IP.

2048’s Top Hitters

2048 Slugger of the Year, Jacob Blanksby: .308/.409/.601, 115-373, 65 runs, 28 doubles, 27HR, 80RBI, 64BB, 2SB, 440PA.

Brock Wakely: Started the year terribly, but hitting HR #400 seemed to get him back in the game. .264/.376/.466, 85-322, 57 runs, 11 doubles, 18HR, 55RBI, 55BB, 386PA.

Manuel Salinas: Out for the season with a torn PCL. .322/.420/.440, 120-373, 64 runs, 13 doubles, 8 triples, 5HR, 51RBI, 62BB, 13SB, 443PA.

Other Notes

Coastal Division: The Venom (14-14) had a par month, but still maintained a healthy 12-game lead in the division. Cairns (17-11) had pulled themselves to .500 and in the process knocked 3 games off Adelaide’s lead.

East-West Division: Brisbane (13-15) still held the lead in this close, but weak, division. They were 1 game ahead of the Central Coast (14-14), 2 ahead of Kununurra (13-15), and 3 ahead of Newcastle (14-14).

NZ Division: Whangarei (18-10) overtook Auckland (10-18) and finished the month 3 games ahead. Wellington (16-12) finished the month 2 games above .500.

Southern Division: Sydney (14-14) were average but only lost 1 game off their January 1st lead, with Canberra (15-13) heading into Killer February playing .500 ball.

Wildcard: Auckland were 3 games ahead in the 1st slot, while Wellington currently had a 1-game advantage in the 2nd. Cairns, Canberra and Central Coast were clamoring at the door, however, with Kununurra only 1 further game behind, and Christchurch and Newcastle just 3 games back.

#

Zachary Woollett (.367/.449/.588, 20HR) finished the month at the top of the BA boards, with Brendon Stennings (.366/.403/.585, 23HR) slipping into 2nd. Woollett also led the league in OPS, and wOBA (.436), while Stennings had collected 171 hits, 12 more than anybody else.

Ismael Aguirre (.351/.413/.619, 28HR) had the league’s best WAR, with 6.7, and was 3rd in the HR race.

Whangarei’s Patrick Maggs (.300/.390/.536, 26HR) went about his work without a lot of fanfare, though anonymous reports from people close to the dressing room painted him as a guy who would like a lot more attention than he was getting. He was the 1st player past 100RBI in 2049, with 101 at the end of January.

Teammate Alan Sneddon (.313/.476/.432, 4HR), on the other hand, was one of the league’s more popular players, but didn’t seem to desire the attention at all. He was continuing his astonishing record for drawing walks, finishing the month with 119, 30 ahead of the next most patient hitter. He continued to lead the league in OBP, and had also scored 104 runs. He remained on track to break the season steals record, too, with 48 so far this season. He’d only been caught 17 times. While he was quick, he wasn’t the quickest guy in the league, but he had to rank up there for the smartest.

Former Slugger Alastair Tierney (.290/.370/.425, 6HR) appeared to have settled into his role with the Blue Sox well. He’d hit 35 doubles, the most of any player in the majors.

Sterling Dunlop (11-5, 2.41 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 0.98 WHIP) continued his fine season. He led the AUNZBL in ERA, FIP, WHIP, BB/9 (1.39), K/9 (8.68), K/BB (6.26), and WAR (4.6).

He was only 2nd in Ks, though. The league’s strikeout leader was Canberra’s Walter Anglesey (10-7, 4.05 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.38 WHIP). He’d fanned 148 batters so far this season, doing so in 164.1IP.

Wally Barlow, also from Canberra, led the league in saves, with 27.

Standings, Feb 1

[Izz]

2049/2050 Season - February

Notable Performances

7 Feb: Alastair Tierney snared PotW, hitting .444/.500/.852, 12-27, with 2 doubles, 3HR, 10RBI, 3BB, and 1 steal.

8 Feb: Terence Bansfield unleashed on Whangarei today, slugging 3HRs. Unfortunately, his new team went down 8-6 to the Sluggers. All 3HR were solo affairs.

14 Feb: In a blast from the past, Alastair Mildren claimed this week’s PotW. The 41 y/o showed he hadn’t lost it all yet, going .500/.577/1.100 over the week, his 10-20 including 4HR. He scored 9 runs and drew 5 walks. With 19HRs on the year, he was 5 ahead of anybody else in his team.

15 Feb: Cody England belted 5-6, including 2 doubles, to help Melbourne bash the Bandits 15-8. England scored 5 runs.

17 Feb: It wasn’t a sexy achievement, like breaking a HR record, but it was still a big deal - to the sabermetricians, at least. With his loaded bases, rbi-walk in the top of the 9th of Whangarei’s 7-4 win over Cairns, Alan Sneddon overtook Ramiro Madrigal at the top of the season walks tree. It was his 3rd walk of the night, and it was fair to say he hadn’t broken the record, he’d smashed it. With over a month left of the season to play Sneddon was on course to draw more than 1 walk per game. He was also tracking to break the current season runs record, steals record, and OBP record. When asked post-game how it all felt, the 24 y/o took a break from shaking hands with some kids after signing their caps, and said, “Isn’t hustle what baseball’s all about?” The CF, who most agreed would have much better ZR and efficiency ratings if he sometimes played it safe instead of always going for the out (or if the Sluggers played him in the corners instead), then wandered over to another group of kids to ask them who their favourite pitchers were.

20 Feb: Jay Cummins allowed just 5 runners (4 hits, 1 walk) to help Wellington demolish the Aces 11-0. He struck out 6.

21 Feb: 30 y/o William Teague was used to moving up and down between AAA and the majors. Today, though, he won big league PotW. In the last 7 days he’d hit .346/.414/1.192, with a whopping 7 of his 9-26 going the distance. He finished the week on a 5-game HR streak, 1 shy of the 6-game record held by a score of players. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to reach that mark, held hitless the following night.

21 Feb: Bob Davies was masterful against the Thunder, allowing just 1 hit (in the 3rd) to help Sydney hold on for a 1-0 shutout victory. Davies k’d 7.

26 Feb: Vic Gerlach went 5-5 for the Thunder versus the Venom but couldn’t stop his team coming up short by the score of 8-4.

26 Feb: It was a rarity for a pitcher to throw a complete game unless he was looking at a shutout, but today Jay Cummins broke that mold. What made it more impressive, however, was that he threw all 10 innings of Wellington’s 3-1 win over Auckland. After the game, Cummins, who’d allowed 8 hits and 1 walk, and only struck out 3, said, “Yeah, I reckon I could’ve gone another couple innings if needed. I was still hitting my spots and the ball was still hitting the catcher’s glove hard.”

28 Feb: Ashley Snijders picked up PotW, with a .500/.571/.792 effort. He was 12-24, with 1 double and 2HR.

Notable Injuries

6 Feb: The Venom would be without the league’s best HR hitter, in Benjamin Ziersch (.324/.385/.603, 35HR), until the middle of March while he recovered from a sprained knee. This was likely a fatal blow to his aspirations of taking out the season HR crown.

9 Feb: Wellington’s bid for a wildcard berth took a serious hit today, with news that Ian Northard (9-6, 2.80 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.28 WHIP) needed Tommy John surgery and faced 13-14 months on the DL.

11 Feb: Everybody in the league was thankful this wasn’t a whole lot worse. Noah Akhurst (.256/.361/.414, 16HR) was driving home after going 1-4 in Canberra’s home loss to Wellington when his car stalled while crossing a set of train tracks. Trying to restart the car, Akhurst almost didn’t notice the train barreling down on him. A couple loud toots from the conductor awakened him to his plight and he scrambled to get out of the way. He almost got away scot free. The train slammed into the car, a piece of which flew off and struck the running Akhurst (who ran like a typical catcher) on the arm. The result: a broken elbow, and at least 4 months on the DL. Akhurst was just happy to be alive. An investigation by the rail authority confirmed that the warning signals weren’t working, otherwise Akhurst would’ve known the train was approaching, and if he somehow missed that, would never have been able to get the car through the barrier field and onto the tracks.

14 Feb: Andre England (.337/.404/.434, 3HR) was unlikely to be back this season after being diagnosed with a sore shoulder.

25 Feb: A downcast Logan Neilson (11-10, 3.17 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) fronted media to inform them that his season was over. He’d been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation and was particularly saddened to miss what looked like being Adelaide’s 1st postseason trip since 2044.

26 Feb: Christchurch 3B Norman Stone (.315/.369/.486, 12HR) could book an early holiday after learning his hamstring strain would keep him out for the rest of the season.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: This season’s last RotM went the way of Esteban Madrigal. He hit .313/.394/.552 in February, 30-96, with 14 runs scored, 5 doubles, 6HR, 18RBI, and 12BB. He also stole a base.

Hurler of the Month: Yu-hsui Chin of the Bandits was 5-1 in February. He had an ERA of 2.63, an FIP of 4.32, and a WHIP of 1.24. The Chinese import struck out 31 in 41.0 IP.

Slugger of the Month: Ismael Aguirre was amping up the pace down the home stretch. He hit .373/.452/.655 during the month, 41-110, scoring 24 runs, hitting 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 7HR, driving in 22 runners, and walking 16 times. He was 1 dinger back in the HR race (35 on the season so far), and led the league in SLG, XBH (75), TB (347), and WAR (8.9). He was 2nd in BA, 3rd in OBP, 2nd in OPS and wOBA (.423), 2nd in hits (197), 3rd in doubles (35), 2nd in RBI (121), and 3rd in isolated power (.271).

Media Watch

Alastair Mildren: Many were surprised at his PotW win in February, even Mildren himself. He had 2 multi-homer games during that week, and after the 2nd said to a reporter, “I have no idea where all that came from.” Still, the evidence showed that even at 41 y/o Mildren still commanded an everyday place in the Roos’ lineup, even though they had rested him for a few games this year (he was on course to play 157 games rather than 162). With 126 hits so far, Mildren only needed 2 more to reach 3200 for his career. He had 20HRs, giving him 626 career jacks, and had already hit 28 doubles, only 2 behind his 2048 mark. For the year he was hitting at a .260/.355/.445 pace, and led the Roos in both HRs and RBI.

Other Notes

Coastal Division: Adelaide (10-16) were sliding, but so was the rest of the division, and they found their lead stretched out to 14 games by March 1st. Their magic number was 9, and nobody else in the division was near .500.

East-West Division: The Thunder (17-9) regained the lead in the East-West, with Brisbane (14-12) 2 games back. The Roos (15-11) had clawed their way to .500 and were in with a wildcard shot if they could keep up the pace in March.

NZ Division: Whangarei (15-11) extended their lead to 5 games, with the Fury (15-11) moving into 2nd spot, and Auckland (9-17) continuing their slide, finishing the month at .500 for the season. It would appear the trade of Bansfield hadn’t helped the Metros any.

Southern Division: Sydney (14-12) were holding Canberra (13-13) off, their lead out to 9 games and their magic number down to 14.

Wildcard: Wellington and Brisbane held the 2 slots currently, with Auckland, Canberra, and Newcastle 2 games behind the Bandits and 3 behind the Fury.

#

Zachary Woollett (.366/.447/.604, 28HR) was a shining light in Cairns’ gloomy season. He led the league in BA, OPS, and wOBA (.442), and was 2nd in the WAR stakes, with 7.4.

Thanks to Ziersch’s injury, the other HR contenders had their chance to stake a claim for the title. Canberra’s Rick Clohessy (.291/.317/.526, 36HR) was now at the head of the pack, leading by 1.

Brendon Stennings (.355/.397/.569, 27HR) might be slowly sliding down the BA standings, but he was the 1st man (and only so far) past the 200-hit post. He finished February with 202 hits.

Alan Sneddon (.321/.486/.450, 5HR) had racked up a whopping 150 free passes by March 1st. He’d also stolen 60 bases, needing only 2 more to hold that season record, and had scored 126 runs. He needed to score 10 more in March to grab that season record, too.

Sterling Dunlop (13-6, 2.58 ERA, 3.09 FIP, 1.03 WHIP) continued to lead the league in ERA, FIP and WHIP, as well as K/9 (8.72), K/BB (5.97), and WAR (5.9). His 179 Ks placed him 2nd on the strikeout leaderboard, and he looked set to break the 200K mark for the 5th time in his career. He was 7th on the all-time strikeout board, with 2284, and 2nd on the active players’ K board (behind Logan Neilson).

Heading into March, 2 players were locked at the top of the saves leaderboard: Rhett Thurley and Wally Barlow. They both had 33 saves.

Standings, Mar 1

[reds1]

Man, that Alan Sneddon is a remarkable player, sexy or not!

[Izz]

Originally Posted by reds1

Man, that Alan Sneddon is a remarkable player, sexy or not!

Yep, he sure is, and at only 24 he may get even better yet! Did i mention that he's drawn 150 walks but only struck out 57 times?