The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

Our "team page" on September 1st, with the minors and our top prospects. I could be making it up, just wanting the game to be that good, but my top prospects appear to have really responded to moves, be it promotions or demotions. None of the hitters are going hog wild, but if Salinas and Trujillo, along with Holbrook come anywhere near what scouts think they could be this could be a remake of Ruth/Gehrig. If it happens in any timeframe close to now I could have 2 of those guys with Alexander and Morgan and a lineup that would possess unthinkable power. I really need Zamora to be 'that guy', or Martinez, I am dying for a true #1. And when I say #1 think Verlander 1. At any given time with 30 teams there are 5 or fewer true 1's in he game. Verlander, Halladay, Kershaw, Felix. Guys who, when they lose, it's a shock. When they are out of the game before the 8th it's an off night. True aces. I need one.

[gehrig38]

Ya, that's right!

[Orcin]

Nice hat!! The Lehigh Valley people probably wonder why you have become a big fan. Any other connection there? Did you ever play there? Any chance of you pitching there next season like Roger did here in Sugar Land?

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Nice hat!! The Lehigh Valley people probably wonder why you have become a big fan. Any other connection there? Did you ever play there? Any chance of you pitching there next season like Roger did here in Sugar Land?

No, No and HELL no.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 22
(leaving the game we played on Monday in the last week)
Off Day
3 @ Green Bay (61-74 28 GB MW)
2 vs Dayton (62-73 27 GB MW)

September 1st Call ups
Tulsa is out of it, and their season ends the 5th so I can’t call them all up, but I’ll grab a few and then any more on the 6th. Ferrer comes up, Lozano, Sotolo will all come up and get some AB’s. Lozano has grown into a legit prospect, though likely in someone eles’ OF. Eric Coates will spend a few days in AAA to end the season, at 24 it’s likely he’ll push for the 4th or 5th OF spot next year. It’s likely at Tulsa’s season end Bentley, Daugherty and Mark Williams will get called up to grab some spot starts and garbage innings. If we can find a way to clinch early they’ll spell the rotation the last series or two of the season.

GAME 136
Alfredo Alejandrez (16-5) goes 6-7-2-2-3-5 after walking the first 3 hitters of the game. Chartier goes 2-4, Feliz 2-4 with a run and RBI (37) and Bill Alexander drills his 37th HR and Anthony Lozano his 2nd.
CHI 6 GB 2 (90-46 +9)

BIG GAMES
Bulldog 1B Miguel Deleon went 5-5 with 2 RBI’s in a 7-2 win over Philly. The 23 year old is hitting .319-6-41 in 74 games this season.

GAME 137
Up against former Iron Pig rookie Carlos De La Torre (1-3 3 Saves 4.47 with the Blizard this year in 24 games, 6 starts)
Wes Morgan led an 18 hit 13 run day going 3-6 with a run and 6 RBI’s (110) on his 34th HR. Ernesto Gutierrez went 3-5 with 2 runs, Hugh Collins 2-5 with 2 RBI’s (99) and Bill Alexander went 2-4 with 2 runs 2 RBI’s (141) and his 16th double. Alfredo Lozano was 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 SB’s (3). Richard Cox (11-5) made it harder than it should have been after we jumped out to a big early lead (5.2-9-5-5-4-1).
CHI 13 GB 6 (91-46+9)

GAME 138
Spike Davis (15-8) struggled into the 5th going 4.1-7-6-6-4-3. 3.2 scoreless innings out of thepen helped close the gap but Blizzard SP Nick Powell (6-8) went 7-8-3-3-2-4 and Freddie Frank closed for his 13th Save. Chartier went 3-4 with an RBI (113) and his 28th SB, and Massi Lorenzelli was 2-4 with his 35th double and his 31st steal.
GB 6 CHI 3 (91-47 +9)

BIG NEWS
Vince Bray (PIT) Tied the IBL single eason win record today with his 22nd victory. He tied Raul Gonzalez (HOU) and Ernie Kelly (DAY) who both won 22 in 2013. Bray went 8.2-9-3-3-0-8 in a 9-3 win over Philadelphia.

GAME 139
Tulsa’s seasons ends today, so if I have any call ups left they’ll be made tomorrow. I have to rework my 40 man as it’s full and I am going to start needing to keep 1-2 spots open, at a minimum. My strategy is akin to some of the best GM’s I’ve ever spoken with. Make your organization deep enough to NEED to protect 40 ML caliber players, and ALWAYS have 3 Catchers minimum, and 9-10 SP.
A 1st inning bases clearing double from Lorenzelli capped a 5 run opener and Mike Davis (7-3) went 7-3-3-3-2-6 and Ernesto Cruz got the final 2 outs for his 11th Save. Daytons Bill Hill went 2-4 with his 44th HR and 2 RBI’s. He’s hitting .317-44-111 in another monster year.
CHI 5 DAY 2 (92-47 +10)

ROSTER NEWS
Will Butler was designated for assignment after I could find no takers on a deal. Will was acquired with Massi Lorenzelli from New Hampshire in a 6 player deal that send Joreao Tio, Bill George and Greg Bartlett to the Fisher Cats in early ’13). Former setup man Jose Pacheco was also designated for assignment, to open up some roster spots. Pacheco had gone from a setup man possible closer option to a AAA reliever as his command just vanished. He was sporting a 6+ ERA in Tulsa. Veteran OF Steve Howard was recalled, SP Elijah Walton made 2 rehab starts and I felt ok that since he was on the 40 man I’d get him some innings this September. Eric Coates went 5-24 in a short AAA call up and #1 pick Pedro Salinas was 5-17 with a HR in the same timeframe at Tulsa. He’s going to start there at a minimum next year, barring something insane, and hopefully be close to ready in 2016 to start his IBL career. He’s 23 so I don’t think it’s puching it as long as the ability continues to progress. I’m excited scouts still believe him to be a once in a generation slugger.

BIG GAMES
Edmonton Trapper Greg McCain (’14 FL batting champ) went 5-5 with 2 RBI’s on his 18th HR in a 11-6 win over Columbus.

Railcat Ace Chris O’Slattery (2014 Koufax winner) is in the midst of a down 2015 season (13-14 4.36) but for a day all was forgotten. He 2 hit Houston in a 1-0 win with 6 punch outs.

GAME 140
A leadoff Julio Martinez HR (14) and Bill Hills 2 run shot (45) 2 hitters later gave this game an ugly look from the start. But a 7 run first of our own capped by Paul Riggs bases loaded triple (5) evened things out. The offense never let up and ended the day with a 17 hit 15-4 win. Gutierriez was 2-5 with 2 runs and his 36th double, Hugh Collins went 3-5 with 3 runs and his 32nd homer. Bill Alexander went 3-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s (143) and Massi Lorenzelli hit his 10th triple in a 3-4 2 RBI day (72). Riggs ended the day with 4 RBI’s (80) and was 2-3. MacFadden (11-7) settled in for a 6-8-3-3-0-7 day.
CHI 15 DAY 4 (93-47 +11)

WEEK 22 RECAP
WEEK 22 FL POTW-Jamie Vance (MICH) 10-19 6 HR’s 13 RBI’s (.271-39-110)
WEEK 22 CL POTW-Miguel Deleon (PIT) 13-22 8 RBI’s 5 Runs (.317-6-47)

BIG GAMES
Greyhound SS Brian Milton went 5-5 with 7 RBI’s in a 13-5 Arizona win over West Michigan. A NY Knights 5th round pick (2012), the 21 year old is hitting .310-2-20 in 32 games.

Blizzard lefty Kelly Gilligan threw a 3 hitter at Staten Island in a 7-0 win today. The former Freedom pitcher is now 11-9 3.64 in 41 games with Green Bay.

IBL single season K/9 Record
Walt Thompson (BRO) 10.731
Walt Thompson (BRO) 10.268
Jim Peck (BUF) 10,086
Walt Thompson (BRO) 10.036
Corey Elkins (EP) 10.004

IBL Power Rankings
1) Chicago
2) El Paso
3) Edmonton
4) Pittsburgh
5) Tulsa

Bottom 5
22) San Antonio
23) New Hampshire
24) Brooklyn
25) Corpus Christi
26) West Michigan

The Frontier Empire and Wild Card are the only possible races, other than a potential race for the #1 seed, barring a total collapse by someone of course.

In the Coastal the ONLY race is the Wild Card, but it looks to be a great one. The entire Pacific is in the Wild Card hunt, 1 game between them. I think if I created a pitching stat Vince Bray would be leading it.

I posted the FL Financials for anyone that's following to offer advice on tweaks. I would like to at least get the larger market clubs into the green, I'd like to get everyone some $$ breathing room for next year moving forward, but I don't want open ended budgets.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 23
1 vs Dayton (64-76 29 GB MW)
3 @ Staten Island (73-67 +6 EMP, could bea preview of our 1st round matchup)
3 vs Edmonton (77-63 20 GB W, 5GB in the Wild Card, hot team, moving into contention)

GAME 141
Alejandrez is 16-5, maybe 4 starts left if I pitch him to the wire (which I am likely not doing, so he’s got a remote chance at 20, but a decent chance to at least tie the club record both he and Mike Davis hold, of 18 wins)
Wes Morgan went 3-4, scoring twice and driving in 3 (114) with his 35th HR. Enrique Franco was 2-3 scoring 2 runs and driving in 2 (5) with his 1st HR. Lorenzellis (32) and Collins (26) stole bases. Alejandrez (17-5) went 7 strong in a 7-4-1-1-2-5 outing.
CHI 6 DAY 2 (94-47 +11)

BIG GAMES
Staten Island SP Javier Gutierrez tossed a 3 hitter in a 15-0 whitewash of Green Bay. The 28 year old is now 14-9 4.54 folloing up on his 15-9 4.10 2014 season. In that same game teammate Ernesto Garza went 5-6 with 3 RBI’s to raise his average to .352, 4 pts behind leader Gerald Wright and 3 pts ahead of Chicago OF Ernesto Gutierrez.

Las Vegas rookie Salvador Guzman threw a complete game 4 hitter to beat Corpus Christi 6-0. Guzman is 2-0 1.06 in his first 2 IBL starts.

GAME 142
Wes Morgan joined Bill Alexander as the only Chicago players to ever homer 3 times in a single game. Morgan went 3-3 with 4 RBI’s in hitting homers 36, 37 and 38. Unfortunately Ryan Pennington’s 7th inning meltdown, allowing 2 inherited runners to score and giving up 3 runs of his own on 2 homers in a 5 hitter span, cost us the game. Yankee slugger Alejandro Villanueva was 2-4 with 2 HR’s (33) and 4 RBI’s (100) and Mario Orosco went 3-5 with 2 runs for the Yanks. Jeff Bentley, in a spot start, went 5.2-7-4-4-1-1 and gaveup 3 HR’s.
SI 9 CHI 7 (94-48 +11)

MINORS NEWS
Silver Star 2015 # 1 pick (#22 overall) Jorge Ortiz is 2-0 0.00 in his first 2 starts at Short Season St Louis.

GAME 143
Kent Martin (10-9) went 8-6-2-2-1-5 and Eli Gill worked around 2 ninth inning walks for his 38th Save. Villanueva drove in 2 more, and Gutierrez went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (52) in the loss. Spike Davis (15-9) gave up 4 on 8 hits in 5 innings with a walk and a K.
SI 4 CHI 2 (98-49 +10)

BIG GAMES
El Paso’s Bob Park moved to 18-3 4.27 on the season. The 29 year old threw a 5 hit shut out over Brooklyn.

RECORDS
Bulldog ace and likely Coastal League Koufax winner this year, Vince Bray, set a new IBL record with his 23 win yesterday. Bray went 8-9-4-4-3-7, giving up 3 in a tiring 9th before coming out, in a 6-5 Pitssburgh win over Sacramento.

Gerald Wright (EP) has broken Cy May’s (HOU) single season RBI record. Wright drove in his 158th run, breaking Cy May’s 157 RBI’s (2012) and Bill Hill’s (DAY) 156 in 2013. Wrights 50 HR’s is 10 shy of Hill’s 2012 record 60. Jesus Andrales (LV) is currently at .3704, which would break Greg McCains (EDM) 2014 sinlgle season record of .3687.

GAME 144
A day for tempers. Wes Morgan will serve a 3 game suspension after being tossed today. Staten Island’s Ron Pearce threw a complete game 6 hitter going 9-6-2-2-1-4 to go to 18-9 3.35. Mike Davis was putrid (7-4) in 4.2-7-7-6-2-2. Yankee Neil weber hit a 3 run shot early (15).
SI 7 CHI2 (94-50 +9)

BIG GAMES
Clipper Mike Holmes won his 12th (12-11 4.58) after tossing a 2 hit shut out over the Arizona Greyhounds. The 32 year old is coming off a 19-9 3.44 ’14 season.

RACES
The Coastal League Wild Card races is now a3 way tie for first. LA, Fresno and Baltimore are all 74-70, 1 game up on 73-71 Sacramento, 2 on 72-72 Houston. Defending Champion Philly is 68-76 and 6 games back.

The FL Batting race is now Wright (EP) .354, Garza (SI) .353 and Gutierrez (CHI) .349. Alberto Vargas has taken a 51-49 lead in HR’s on Wright.
El Paso is at 98-46, 2 away from tying LA’s 100 win record.

GAME 145
Dan MacFadden (11-8) struggles going 6-8-5-5-3-6 but Sib van Bodegraven turns a game into a mess giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in 2/3rds of an inning. Edmonton SP Brandon Osborne won for just the 4th time in 22 decisions (4-18) going 8.1-7-3-3-7-4. Trapper Brent McCoy went 3-5 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s on a triple (2) and his 26th HR. Chartier was 2-5 with an RBI (114) and Hugh Collins was 3-4 with a run on his 16th double. Bill Alexander went 2-3 with 2 RBI’s (146). Ron Miller hit his 13th HR and Ernesto Gutierrez was 1-3, scoring twice and hitting his 38th double.
EDM 9 CHI 5 (94-51 +8)

RACES
Fresno took a 1 game lead on LA and Baltimore, Sacramento is 2 back, Houston 3.

Garza (SI) is now in the lead .355 to Wright’s (EP) .354.

GAME 146
Alejandrez (17-8) gets beat by trying to work through a 66 minute rain delay, going 3.2-8-5-5-2-4. Alfredo Lozano was 3-4 with 2 runs and an RBI on his 3rd HR. Esteban Menddez threw a perfect 9th for his 33rd Save.
EDM 6 CHI 5 (94-52 +7)

RACES
Fresno jumps 2 up on Sacramento, LA and Baltimore, 3 on Houston.

Garza and Wright are tied at .354. Gutierrez is 6pts back.

El Paso becomes the 1st to clinch, taking the Frontier League West at 98-46.

GAME 147
Bill Alexander’s 38th HR, a 3 run shot in the bottom of the 8th, turned a 2-1 deficit, into a 4-2 win after Ernesto Cruz got the final 3 outs for his 12th Save. Richard Cox (12-5) threw an outstanding 8-4-2-2-0-8 game, trailing 2-1 until the 8th. Raul Feliz was 2-3 with his 13th double, Chartier went 2-4 with 2 runs.
CHI 4 EDM 2 (95-52 +7)

WEEK 23 RECAP
WEEK 23 FL POTW-Angelo Gomez (COL) 12-29 4 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.325-43-107)
WEEK 23 CL POTW-Jorge Gonzalez (LV) 13-25 3 HR’s 11 RBI’s (.331-8-42)

BIG GAMES
Bison RF Jose Palacios went 4-5 with 6 RBI’s on 3 HR”s (32) in a 14-5 win over West Michigan.

Fresno Grizzly Troy Becker went 5—5 in a 14-6 win over the LA today. Becker is hitting .301-1-34 on the year.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Tulsa
2) Chicago
3) Columbus
4) El Paso
5) Las Vegas

Bottom 5
22) New Hampshire
23) Alaska
24) Corpus Christi
25) Michigan
26) West Michigan

[jaysdailydose]

Just wanted to say that I love how you are formatting things now, its a ton easier on the eyes! Always following, and want to say best of luck with the writers as well. Can't think of that time in baseball without those exploits! Thanks for such a great story, keep up the great work!

[gehrig38]

The races are over, except for what looks to be an insane Coastal League Wild Card race.

Wrights hold on the triple crown is slipping, 4 guys are working to get 20 wins, but time is tight. El Paso can't seem to get the 99th.

In the Wild Card, they all see each other over the last 15, with Philly on the fringe and capable of getting back into it if they get hot.

Fresno has Off, 3 @ BAL, 3 v HOU, 3 @ SAN, 3 v LV, Off, 3 v NH for 6 road, 9 home 9 games vs contenders (39-33 Home Record, 38-37 Road)

Baltimore is Off, 3 v FRE, 3 @ PHI, 3 @ PIT, 3 v SAC, Off, 3 @ TUL, for 9 road, 6 home, 12 vs contenders (figuring Philly for now) and they are 38-37 Home, 37-35 Road.

Sacramento is Off, 3 v TUL, 3 @ CC, 3 v LA, 3 @ BAL, Off, 3 v HOU, for 6 road 9 home with 9 vs contenders (they are 37-35 Home and 37-38 Road)

LA is Off, 3 @ PHI, 3 v PIT, 3 @ SAC, 3 v TUL, Off, 3 @ CC for 9 Road 6 Home (40-35 home, 34-38 Road) with 12 vs contenders

Houston has Off, 3 v LV, 3 @ FRE, 3 v PHI, 3 @ PIT, Off, 3 @ SAC, all their remaining games are vs contenders or playoff teams, with 9 Home 6 Road. They are 42-33 Home and 31-41 Road

Philly is outside the bubble right now but are all over these schedules so they could conceivably play back into it. They have Off, 3 v LA, 3 v BAL, 3 @ HOU, 3 v SAN, Off, 3 @ LV for 6 road 9 home with 12 vs contenders. They are 35-37 Home and 35-40 Road.

I will likely get more in depth over the last 2 1/2 weeks, watching the race unfold and if any other races show up, as well as keeping the individual races up to date.

[gehrig38]

Off day minor league summary
It’s been awhile, and all the teams are through, and winter ball and instructional league is upon us (BTW, that would be an AWESOME addition to organization things. Like real life you could select 35 of your minor league kids to go to instructional league where, if your staff is good and their personal habits were right, they would improve ever so slightly. You could also pick 5-10 of you guys with less than 1 year service to go to winter ball, and they’d play, pitch in a simmed 40 or so game season, get hurt, improve and what not, depending on which winter league you sent them to. If anyone on the game wants to know how this could work I’d love to explain it, simple in NON GAME code terms (what feature creep idea isn’t?!)

TULSA
Finished 73-71 11 games out. Fred Huff led them with 20 HR”s, no one had enough AB’s or hit high enough to mention. Alfredo Lozano grew into more of a prospect here this year, with 68 RBI’s to lead them. The big news was the continued progress of #1 pick Gerardo Zamora. He went 13-8 2.85 in 29 starts, throwing 176.2 IP, with 149 hits, 147 K’s and 52 walks. He’ll contend for a rotation spot next year. His stuff is now 11/12, movement 12/12 and control 11/15. Was hoping his stamina would increase but it’s still a 9. At 21, and durable, he’s hopefully my #2 for years to come. It would change only if I could move him and get a Vince Bray type #1 who was in his mid 20’s. Denny Walker popped on to my radar as well. He went 11-111 3.63 and punched out 172 in 188.2 IP. This was his 3rd season at Tulsa, and he’s 25 but he is now a legitimate 4 or 5 going into camp. He was 17-7 3.65 here last year. 2013 #2 pick Eric Coates got a few games in here at seasons end, and was a AA All Star. I figure him to be a serious candidate for a 5th OF spot next year. He was hurt a few times this year but hit .301-9-36 in 80 AA games, with a .431 OBP and .469 slugging. Jeff Bentley is likely to move into MR if he remains, but I’ll shop him this winter. His stamina makes it almost impossible to start him. He was 5-5 4.05 after being demoted and his ratings, according to my scouts are 14/14 stuff, 11/11 movement and 13-15 control but it’s not translating to performance. Curt Daugherty came on as a great surprise. At 22 I sent 5 players to the Hooks to get him where I think his IBL call up was premature. He went 5-4 3.10 in 15 starts, 104 IP and he punched out 107, walking just 26. His stuff is peaked at 13/13, and movement has a tick to go at 11/12 and his control as well, which Martin has at 10-12. He’s got stamina though and with Zamora would make a young back end to my rotation. Francisco Reyna will likely be put on my roster if I can’t trade for another Catcher. He had a good year in Tulsa but I am weak at Catcher. #1 pick Pedro Salinas got in 4 games at years end and will likely start here next year. Keith Todd hit .328/.365/.460 in 58 games with 7 HR’s 20 RBI’s.

BAKERSFIELD
Finished 69-71 13 games out. Ricardo Gonzalez became a prospect by leading the Speed Demons with 17 HR’s and 63 RBI’s. Not feeling great about the players here this year, a few potential fringe roster guys at best. Bob Alexander won 11 games with a 3.60 and punched out 150. 2012 #1 Anthony Martin appears close to being released. His control has regressed to the point it’s a huge red flag. At 21 he has a chance to fix it, but I won’t bet on it.

DENISON
Went 75-65 and won the Wild Card but lost in the first round. Kyle Robinson showed his IBL pop with 23 HR”s and 85 RBI’s but hit a paltry .191. Ed Harris went 12-5 2.68 with 130 K’s. Barry Scott had a good year , hitting .261 and stealing 31-45 with 8 HR’s. He’s likely to open in AA, and his glove is close to max defense in Center with as good range as anyone in the game.

BELLEVIEW
Went 63-77 12 games back. While they finished well compared to the league their top hitter, Albert Ortiz, hit .245 with 15 and 56 RBI’s, all team highs. Anselno Isarael was 7-13 3.80 with 180 k’s in 161 IP but he’s still off the prospect radar due to his lack of movement and control. Derek Jenkins brought a 100mph fastball to the closers role, saving 15 and punching out 73 in 54.2 IP. He’s 22 and hopefully will get good enough to get to AA out of spring next year.

HEAVENER
FInsihes tomorrow and is 34-41 4 games out. Alex Cueller is an interesting 2 way guy, he hit .253-9-37 to lead in all categories. Given that he plays 1B I’m inclined to let him try and start next year, and see if it amounts to anything, being as stacked as I am at 1st. From a pitching perspective former #1 Roberto Martinez had a very good year after his Omaha promotion. He went 2-2 1.78 in 6 starts with 35.1 IP, 25 hits, 42 K’s and 20 walks. His ceiling has dropped, but stuff and movement are still very good, 10/13 stuff. 12/13 movement, but his control is now a concern. He’s 19 though, so there’s till time but I am disappointed in the scouting assessment now. Not likely to be the #1 I had hoped. In the pen Ryan Lacey’s 100mph fastball is literally dangerous. His control left him. He went 1-1 11 Saves with a 1.83 striking out 27 K’s in 19.2 IP, walking 18. There are some other relievers here that could pan out, none had spectacular seasons.

OMAHA
Went 37-31 12 games back. RF George Payton hit just .209 but hammered 17 HR’s and had 54 RBI’s in only 59 games. He’s an outstanding corner defender but his bat is not going to cut it. At 21 he is likely to be a sub 200 hitter at even the next level. 17 year old Zeke Mansel, this years #3 pick, had a rough intro going 1-4 5.82 but is looking like he’ll relieve if he can’t increase his stamina. He’ll beback here in Omaha next year starting to continue getting him innings, his stuff is 8/20, movement 9/11 but his control is 2./11. No one here had a break out year so the older players will likely be released to make way for the 2016 draft picks.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by jaysdailydose

Just wanted to say that I love how you are formatting things now, its a ton easier on the eyes! Always following, and want to say best of luck with the writers as well. Can't think of that time in baseball without those exploits! Thanks for such a great story, keep up the great work!

Very nice of ya to take the time, it's appreciated. Hoping to keep people half as interested as I am, having a blast.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 24
Off Day
3 @ Alaska (65-82 33 GB West)
3 vs Arizona (72-75 26 GB West)

OFF DAY NEWS
INJURY NEWS
Green Bay SP Kirby Dean will miss at least the next 10 month after damaging is UCL. The 25 year old was 8-10 5.25 in 31 starts after being taken from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the expansion draft.

Game 148
Spike Davis melted down in the 6th and the bullpen piled on. Alex Rodriguez went 2-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI’s (107) hitting his 35th and 36th HR’s. Former Iron Pig Segio Lopez went 2-4 with a run and 2 RBI’s leading off for the Aces. Jean Chartier went 3-5 with 2 RBI’s, Bill Alexander doubled twice (20) and Paul Riggs hit his 40th double in a 2-4 day. Alaska SP Domingo Martinez moved to 10-10 3.91 going 7.2-10-4-4-5-4.
ALK 9 CHI 4 (95-53 +

RACES and RECORDS
Vince Bray upped his record win total to 24 today with a 5-0 shutout of Corpus Christi. Bray gave up 5 hits and k’d 11 to go 24-3 2.36.

Sacramento SP George Bean helped the River Cats playoff chances with a 2 hitter today, downing Tulsa 2-0 on 6 K’s. Bean is 13-9 2.87.

Fresno beat Baltimore 6-0, Philly beat LA 5-4 and Las Vegas downned the Roughriders 7-2 so Fresno now leads the Wild Card by 3 games over Sacramento and Baltimore, 4 over LA and 5 over Houston.

Garza (SI) went 1-4 to drop to .353, Wright (EP) went 1-4 to remain at .351 and Gutierrez went 1-4 to drop to .347.

Alberto Vargas (BUF) is at 51 homers, Wright (EP) now has 50. Bill Alexander is up to 151 RBI’s, 11 behind Wright’s IBL record 162.

Jean Chartier and Massi Lorenzelli have 32 and 31 stolen bases respectively, leaving Chartier tied with Jose Gomez (AZ) for the FL lead.

Walt Thompson (BRO) is at 210 punch outs, 10 behind Diablo Corey Elkins in his bid for a 4th strikeout title. Bob Park of El Paso won his 19th yesterday (and El Paso their 99th) in his bid for 20 wins, Bray (PIT) is the only pitcher with 20 this year (24). Paco Gonzalez (EDM) Ron Pearce (SI) and George Perkins (TUL) are all at 18.

ORG NEWS
Denison Hitting Coach Reggie Nixon had his contract expire and I’d love to resign him. I’m afraid he’s going to ask too much.

GAME 149
A 3 run 9th inning rally versus former Iron Pig Riley Potts turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win after a perfect 9th from Ernesto Cruz (SV 13). Ken Johnson and Dan Winston (2-2) combined with Cruz for 3-3-0-0-2-2. Paul Riggs went 4-5, Wes Morgan was 2-4 with a big 9th inning double (24) and Ernesto Gutierrez had a game winning 2B (39) in a 9th inning PH appearance to drive in 2. Alaska SP Barry Zito went 7-7-1-1-1-8 in a no decision. Curt Daugherty got the spot start for Mike Davis and went 6-6-3-3-1-4 in the no decision.
CHI 4 ALK 3 (+6)

RACE NEWS
Fresno suffered a huge blow to their post season hopes as SP Santiago Medina (17-7 3.07) learned he will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a sore shoulder.

Fresno lost to Baltimore 10-7 as well today, Sacramento dropped a 9-7 decision to Tulsa and LA beat Philly 5-2 while Houston beat the 51’s 4-2. So Fresno is now 2 up on Baltimore, 3 on Sacramento and LA and 4 up on Houston. Pittsburgh clinched the Keystone with it’s 92 win.

El Paso matched LA’s IBL record with their 100th win today as well.

In the batting race Ernesto Garza went 2-5 to up his average to .354, Wright went 1-5 in El Paso’s win to drop to .349, and Gutierrez was 1-1 in a PH appearance to tied Wrigh at .349.

Barry Zito’s 8 K’s pushed him to 211, passing Walt Thompson for 2nd in the FL.

GAME 150
Jean Chartiers 23rd HR in the 1st got the game started, putting us up 2-0. A 2-0 lead Dan MacFadden couldn't hold. He’d give way in the 3rd and Mike Davis would go the final 5.1-2-0-0-1-2 as MacFadden went 2.2-6-6-6-3-0 losing his 9th (11-9). Ernesto Gutierrez PH in the 9th, again, with runners on the corners, down 6-3 and 1 out, and lined into a DP to end it and Riley Potts notched his 19th save. Aces 1B Manny Chavez went 4-4 in just his 6th IBL game, and former Iron Pig Leon Russel was 2-4 with his 9th HR and 4 RBI’s. Paul Riggs went 3-5 with a run and an RBI in the loss.
ALK 6 CHI 3 (96-54 +6)

ORG NEWS
Reggie Nixon has taken the head coaching job for Alaska Class A Perry Heights Golden Seals. We’ll have to look elsewhere for a new Denison skipper.

RACE NEWS
Baltimore beat Fresno again, 5-2, Philly downed LA 8-7 despite Vince Soto’s 3-3 2 HR 5 RBI day for the Wizards, Tulsa beat Sacramento 6-4 and Las Vegas beat Houston 6-5.

That all means Fresno is now just 1 up on Baltimore, 3 on Sacramento and Los Angeles and 4 on Houston. Philly is 6 out.

In the batting race Ernesto Garza (SI) went 1-3 to remain at .354, in the same game Gerald Wright went 1-3 to stay at .349. Gutierrez PH again in our game going 0-1 and dropping to .348.

Alberto Vargas(BUF) drilled his 52nd HR to move 2 up on Gerald Wright.

Both Vegas and Tulsa are a day or two away from locking up their respective divisions. Buffalo in the FL Empire, and Columbus behind us, are at 6 out, a miniscule shot, but still a shot, to make a move.

GAME 151
Alejandrez flirted with disaster for the first 4, walking 4 and throwing a ton of pitches and it caught up to him in the 5th on a 3 run HR by Luis Rios (31). He’d leavein the 5th with 105 pitches but a huge clutch day from the pen with Torres going 1.1 hitless, van Bodegraven (4-2) coming in, 2 on 0 out and punching out the side, Pennington (H16) getting 2 big 8th inning outs and Cruz getting the final 4 for his 14th Save. Feliz would tie it at 3 in the 6th with his 8th HR and a 2 run single by Collins in the 7th proved the margin. Gutierrez went 2-2 with 2 runs and 2 walks to up his average to .351 and Wes Morgan went 2-4 with an RBI (119).
CHI 5 AZ 3 (97-54 +7)

RACE NEWS
Houston beat the Grizzlies 12-9 as Cy May hit his 33rd, Philly beat Baltimore 8-5 on Carlos Arredondo’s 44th, Sacramento beat Corpus Christi 5-4 and LA beat Pittsburgh 6-3.
So the race is now
Fresno 78-73 –
Batlimore 77-74 1
Sacramento 76-75 2
Los Angeles 76-74 2
Houston 75-76 3
Philly 73-78 5

Las Vegas and Tulsa both clinched their divisions, so the winners in the Coastal League are all set, and right now it’s Pittsburgh with the #1 seed at 93, Vegas has 90.

Buffalo is 5 back of Staten Island.

In the batting race Garza went 1-5 to drop to .352, Gutierrez went 2-2 to move to .351 and Wright went 1-3 to remain at .349.

Corey Elkins of El Paso punched out 9 in an 8-4-1-1-1-9 effort to move to 13-8, his 229 K’s leads the FL.

GAME 152
Wes Morgan’s 1st triple and his 39th HR drove in 4 (123) and Ricahrd Cox (13-5) went 6-6-3-3-2-7 and got 1.2 scoreless from Sanchez (H15) and Ken Johnson closed it out with 1.1 hitless. Paul Riggs hit his 41st double ina 2-4 day and Raul Feliz went 2-3 with a run and his 14th SB.
CHI 7 AZ 3 (98-54 +7)

RACE NEWS AND STATS
Clipper Angelo Gomez went 2-5 to extend his streak to 20 games. Gomez is following his monster ’14 season of .311-31-76 with an even better 2015. He’s hitting .330-44-111 on the season. He was the 3rd round pick of Columbus in the 2012 inaugural draft.

Philly beat Baltimore 12-8 as Kevin Peters went 2-4 2 HR’s (20) and 5 RBI’s, Sacramento beat Corpus Christi 8-2, LA with a walk off win over Pittsburgh 5-4 as Ruben Cruz went to 13-13 and Fresno crushed Houston 14-2 behind Alonzo Garza’s 3-3 4 RBI day with his 11th HR.

So the race looks like this
Fresno 79-73 –
Sacramento 77-75 2
Los Angeles 77-75 2
Baltimore 77-75 2
Houston 75-77 4
Philly 74-78 5

Buffalo is now 75-77, 4 games back of Staten Island at 79-73 and they do not play each other in the seasons final 10 games.

Gerald Wright went 1-3 in an 11-4 win to remain at .349, Ernesto Garza went 1-4 in a 8-4 loss to fall to .352, Ernesto Gutierrez went 1-4 to fall to .350.

GAME 153
A laugher almost turned tragic. Spike Davis (16-9) was barely good enough to get thorugh 5 on 107 pitches going 5-11-4-4-1-3 as Arizona pounded out 22 hits. An 11-6 comfortable lead turned ugly in the 9th as van Bodegraven and Pennington coughed up 4 and Ernesto Cruz had to come in for the final out and his 15th Save but not before he gave up a double and left the tying run on 2nd. Ken Phillips went 4-6 as did Tim Thomas for Arizona and Luis Rios wenbt 3-5 with 5 RBI’s hitting his 32nd HR. Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-5 with a run and RBI (55) hitting his 40th double, Hugh Collins went 3-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI’s (107) on 2 doubles (19) and his 33rd HR. Bill Alexander went 2-3 with 3 runs and 4 RBI’s (157) on 2 HR’s (40). Massi Lorenzelli went 2-3 with 2 doubles (39) and stole his 33rd, and Paul Riggs was 2-4. Jean Chartier was 2-4 with 2 runs on his 26th double and stole his 32nd.
CHI 11 AZ 10 (99-54 +8)

WEEK 24 RECAP

WEEK 24 FL POTW-Luis Chavez (EDM) 13-29 4 HR’s 12 RBI’s (.284-15-50)
WEEK 24 CL POTW-Alonzo Garza (FRE) 11-23 2 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.269-12-68)

STREAKS AND STATS
Clippers LF Angelo Gomez had his 20 game streak halted today.

ORG NEWS
Bakersfield manager Andrew Robinson is out. And looking for far too much to res-sign.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Tulsa
4) Las Vegas
5) Columbus

Bottom 5
22) Arizona
23) Michigan
24) New Hampshire
25) West Michigan
26) Corpus Christi

RACE NEWS
Philly beat Baltimore and ace Chris O’Slattery (14-16) 10-4, Sacramento beat Corpus Christi 9-4, Fresno beat Houston after the Roughriders scored 3 in the top of the 9th to take a 7-6 lead, Alonzo Garza homered (12) to tie it and Francisco Alfaro hit a walk off Sac fly, Pittsburgh, behind Ross Tunstalls 3-5 2 HR (41) 5 RBI day beat LA 15-6.

In the batting race Gerald Wright went 1-4 in a 9-4 loss to stay at .349, Ernesto Garza went 3-5 in a 6-1 win to raise his average to .354 and Ernesto Gutierrez went 2-5 in our 11-10 win to raise his average to .351.

In the FL Empire, Buffalo remains 4 back with 9 to play.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 25
3 @ El Paso (103-50 Clinched. A series that we could, with a sweep, get into a race for the #1 seed, Either way this is a test for the playoffs as I expect El Paso to be heavy favorites. The 1 seed is getting Columus to open the playoffs, the 2 will likely get Staten Island unless Buffalo shocks the world)
3 vs Michigan (66-87 33 GB MW)
Off Day

GAME 154
Bad D and a bad night from the pen spoiled a late lead. Mike Davis tired after 90 pitches and 5-5-2-1-2-3 and the pen followed him with 3-6-6-4-4-2 wretched innings. Moore took the loss (5-1). Hugh Collins went 1-1 with 2 walks and his 34th HR. Diablo PH Daniel Sanchez ended up 2-2 with 4 RBI’s after a 7th inning appearance.
EP 8 CHI 4 (99-55 +8)

RACE NEWS
Gutierrez went 0-3 to drop to .348, Wright was 1-3 to stay at .349 and Garza had the day off to remain at .354

San Antonio pummelled Fresno 13-6 as Ed Thomas went 4-5 with a 2B HR and 5 RBI’s, Sacramento beat LA 7-6 as Vincente Romero moved to 17-7, Pittsburgh beat Baltimore 2-1 as Ramon Roa won his 19th (19-4 3.07) and Houston beat Philly 3-2.

Fresno is now 1 game up on Sacramento, 3 on LA and Baltimore, 4 on Houston and 5 on Philly with 8 to play.

Staten Island crushed West Michigan 15-2 and Edmonton dropped Buffalo 5 back with a 9-3 win.

GAME 155
A MacFAdden bomb (3-6-7-7-3-3) is made right by a lethal bullpen (6-2-0-0-2-7) with Elijah Walton (1-0) getting his 1st Chicago victory, Randy Pennington (H18) with 1.2 scoreless and Ernesto Cruz getting the final 4 for his 16th Save (and still 0.00 ERA). The Iron Pigs win 100 games for the 1st time and clinch the Frontier League Central Division in the process. Feliz and Collins both go 2-4 scoring once each and driving in 2 apiece. Wes Morgan continues his outstanding season going 3-4 with 2 RBI’s (126) and Ignacio Ferrer goes 2-4 with 2 runs.
CHI 9 EP 7 (100-55 +9)

RACE NEWS
Gerald Wright was 0-3 in our game, dropping to .347, Gutierrez went 0-1 with 2 walks to drop to .348 and Ernesto Garza went 0-4 to drop to .351.

Staten Island beat West Michigan 5-1 and Buffalo won 6-0 as J.R Robinson went 8.1-3-0-0-6-3 to go 13-9 on the season. Buffalo remains 5 back with 7 to play.

Baltimore beat the Bulldogs 4-3 on PH Jesus Acevedo’s 9th inning 2B, Fresno beat San Antonio on Rich Stone’s 26th, Joe Rowe’s 22nd and Francisco Alfaro’s 7th 8-5, Houston crushed Philly 14-4 on Cy May’s 3-4 3 RBI day with his 35th HR and 1B Juan Cabrera;s 3-5 3 run 2 RBI day on his 21st HR. Sacramento beat LA 5-3.

Fresno remains 1 game up on Sacramento, 3 on Baltimore, 4 on both LA and Houston and 6 on Philly with 7 games remaining.

Paco Gonzalez (EDM) Bob Park (EP) Ron Pearce (SI) George Perkins (TUL) and Ramon Roa (PIT) are all sitting on 19 wins with 1-2 starts left apiece.

GAME 156
Alfredo Alejandrez tied his own club record with his 18th win going 5.1-4-2-2-5-4. The pen went 3.2-4-0-0-0-6 to close it out. Jean Chartier went 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s (123) on his 24th HR, Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 2 runs and an RBI (112) on his 20th double and Bill Alexander went 2-3 with his 159th RBI. Jesus Fuentes was 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s (19) on his 3rd HR.
CHI 8 EP 2 (101-55 +9)

RACE NEWS
Baltimore beat Pittsburgh 7-5, Houston beat Philly 7-6 as Cy May hit his 36th and Tom Conklin saved his 37th, San Antonio beat Fresno 10-6 and LA beat Sacramento 8-3 on Vince Soto’s 15th HR. Fresno still holds the 1 game lead on Sacramento, but Baltimore is back within 2, LA and Houston are 3 back, and Philly is out, 6 back with 6 to play.

Vegas visits Fresno for 3, Sacramento will travel to Baltimore in a huge series, Tulsa will visit LA and Houston will go to Pittsburgh for 3.

Staten Island clinched a tie with a 6-3 win over West Michigan coupled with Buffalo’s 5-2 loss to Edmonton.

In New York’s 13-5 win over Alaska Jamie Hilton (NY) went 4-4 with 2 HR’s (21) and 7 RBI’s.

Ernesto Garza was 1-4 to stay at .351, Gerald Wright went 0-5 in our game to drop to .344 and Ernesto Gutierrez was 0-3 to drop to .345.

GAME 157
A 10-1 drubbing at the hands of perennial doormat Michigan leaves me with no warm and fuzzy feelings in the seasons final week. We are playing like crap on both sides of the ball and our biggest asset, our pen, is terrible. Michigan’s Juan Molina went 4-4 with his 18th HR and Dan Hill (12-8) went 6.2-6-1-1-2-6 for the win. Cox (13-6) wasn't horrible but a 6-6-5-4-4-1 line wasn't good enough. Jeff Bentley came out of the pen to give up 4 hits, 3 runs in 2/3rds of an inning. Wes Morgan did hit #40 in a 1-1 day.
MICH 10 CHI 1 (101-56 +8)

RACE NEWS
Pittsburgh drubbed Houston 15-4, Sacramento beat the Railcats 4-1, Vegas scored 3 in the 9th of a 1-1 game to beat Fresno 4-1 and Tulsa crushed LA 12-3.

Sacramento has caught Fresno for the Wild Card lead, Baltimore is 2 back, LA and Houston are 3 back with 5 to play.

Ernesto Gutierrez sat today, remaining at .345, Gerald Wright went 2-4 with 2 triples to raise his average to .345 and Ernesto Garza went 1-4 to drop to .350. By the way Wrights day put him at 170 RBI’s, continuing to increase his single season record.

Las Vegas OF Jesus Andrales set a new single season IBL record with his 229th hit. Andrales is going to win the CL Batting Title, he’s at .369 now, after a .307-6-71 ’14 season when he had 202 hits.

Hugh Collins has 34 HR’s and 29 SB’s in trying for a 2nd consecutive 30/30 season. Jean Chartier is at 24 HR’s and 33 SB’s.

GAME 158
Spike Davis (17-9) went 6.2-9-2-2-0-2 for his 17th win. Paul Riggs went 2-4 with 2 runs, Ron Miller went 2-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s (50) on a double (10) and his 14th HR and Bill Alexander was 1-2 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s (162) to extend his Iron Pig single season record. He also hit his 41st HR.
CHI 9 MICH 4 (102-56 +9)

TRADE NEWS
Tulsa sent 28 year old Bernado Reyes (INF) and 21 year old catching prospect Jorge Marillo to Fresno for 25 year old OF Troy Becker. Reyes is a very good fielding backup player with zero speed and some pop while the OSA has Marillo as a potential power hitting catcher who’s already a very good defender, while Becker was hitting .306/386/407 in 82 games with the Grizzlies. He’s a good corner OF with decent speed.

In stunning news Alaska sent 27 year old 2B Chip Reynolds, a 4 star player with a good bat and above average glove to Las Vegas and in return received 31 year old 2012 Koufax winner Matthieu Cafasso. Cafasso was in the midst of a 2nd bad season after his 16-9 3.99 ’13 campaign and many scouts say the stuff, movement and control is down, but many more believe this trade was driven by Cafasso’s 4.56 million dollar salary and impending arbitration case. Vegas and the pitcher have been unable to reach a long term settlement and it’s believed he’ll set a record in arbitration this winter. Alaska is one of the few teams with cash in hand right now prior to the new TV contracts coming into play. 51 fans are in an uproar I would think, given Vegas has the Pacific division champion and headed to the playoffs. Cafasso is 11-15 5.12 this year and 18-22 5.65 the past 2 years combined. Things have gotten so bad that he’s been pitching out of the Vegas pen his past few appearances.

RACE NEWS
Baltimore’s Chris O’Slattery (15-16) beat Sacramento’s George Bean (13-10) 7-3, Houston beat Pittsburgh and Vince Bray (24-4) as Sergio De La Garza (9-4) went 7-3-0-0-2-8, Fresno beat Vegas 9-7 and LA behind a Pat Adams walk off double in the 9th beat Tulsa 7-6.

Staten Island clinched the Frontier Leagues Empire Division, locking up the playoffs. They will be our 1st round oppent most likely, with El Paso playing Wild Card Columbus.

Fresno is now 1 game up on Sacramento again, Baltimore is 2 back, LA and Houston 3 back with 4 to play.

In the batting race, Ernesto Gutierrez sat again today, staying at .345, Wright went 1-3 and is at .345 and Garza went 1-4 to drop to .349. Todd Helton of Green Bay is now hitting .340, in 4th place.

In Brooklyn Walt Thompson went 8-5-2-2-1-12 to run his record to 18-11, and is now 5 K’s behind El Paso’s Cory Elkins for the LF Strikeout title, which he’s won every year since the leagues inception in 2012. He’s punched out 36 over his last 4 starts in 29 IP.

Gerald Wright is also now sitting on 437 total bases, just 12 total bases behind Bill Hill’s (DAY) 2012 single season record of 449.

GAME 159
Working in some AB’s and innings for the 40 man call ups over the final 4. I've seen enough games late in a season where a key player gets hurt and missed the playoffs trying to eek out another AB or reach another meaningless milestone. Not this year if I can help it. None of my SP will start the final 4, all call up starters and the regulars will play 5-6 innings tops.
Walton runs into trouble after the offense stakes us an early big lead. Van Bodegraven (4-3) serves up Dobson’s 19th to cost us the game. Ron Miller continues to impress, locking on to the 4th OF and LH SP lineup for next year. At his age it’s likely time, budget allowing, to lock him up. He went 2-3 with an RBI (51) and his 15th HR. His slash lines vs lefties, .311/444/582 in 122 AB’s. Alexander goes 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (164) and Lorenzelli hits his 41st double in a 2-3 1 RBI day (77).
MICH 8 CHI 6 (102-57 +8)

RACES
Philly beat San Antonio 8-2, Pittsburgh, behind Ramon Roa’s 20th win (20-4) beat Houston 4-3, Baltimore beat Vincent Romero (17-8) and Sacramento 6-3 with Jongmans (25) and Juan Torres (36) homering. Vegas beat Fresno 9-1 behind Marshall Wall’s 15th (15-11) and LA crushed Tulsa 11-4 with Soto hitting 2 more HR’s (17).

So Fresno is now 1 up on Sacramento and Baltimore, 2 on LA, 3 on Houston and Philly’s is eliminated.
So with three days left 5 teams are within 3. Fresno will host New Hampshire in the seasons final series. Sacramento and Houston will be the fly in the ointment here, as they meet, in Sacramento, for 3. Baltimore travels to Tulsa and LA to Corpus Christi.

FL Batting Race
Gutierrez sat again vs a left and remains at .345, Gerald Wright went 0-4 in a 12-3 beating from NY and fell to .343, and Garza rested today as well to remain at .349.

ORG NEWS
Denison took home 3 class A gold gloves. John Whisenant 1B, Fred Keith SS and Kyle Robinson in RF.

I am going to follow the season day by day until this race is decided, keeping tabs as I play my game, on the races.

[gehrig38]

And who will win 20?

WEEK 25
FL POTW-Bob Veeck (pronounced VEE-ck) (BUF) 15-27 5 HR’s 10 RBI’s (.328-31-100)
CL POTW-Cy May (HOU) 11-23 3 HR’s 7 RBI’s (.345-36-96) this is his 8th career POTW award.

IBL Single Season OBP Record
Curt Whimster (TUL) .4585
Mathew Moore (NY) .4572
Gregory McCain (EDM) .4538
Ernesto Gutierrez (CHI) .4497 (this year, he’s 9 pts away from season record. After today's game.. well I won't spoil it, read on)
Alex Rodriguez (ALK) .4473

IBL Power Rankings
1) El Paso
2) Chicago
3) Las Vegas
4) Pittsburgh
5) Tulsa

Bottom 5
22) New Hampshire
23) Brooklyn
24) San Antonio
25) West Michigan
26) Corpus Christi

GAME 160 with highlights from around the league and Wild Card Race
Gutierrez leads off with a single, upping his average to .347 and a Collins double (22) drives in a run (114), Alexander’s ground out (165) and a Morgan ground out (129) make it 3-0. Collins drives in another with an RBI single, scoring Fuentes, in the 2nd. Daugherty is through 2 up 4-0. Gutierrez hits another single in his 2nd AB, moving to .348. Right now we are the only game, most others are out west or in Central.
Marcos Oginlara gets New York on the board with a leadoff 4th inning HR (22). You might remember this kid, he was the Knights 1st pick, 3rd overall, in the 2013 June Draft. 2 outs later Mathew Moore drills his 27th to make it 4-2. Gutierrez grounds out in his 3rd AB, 2-3 on the night, .347 where he will finish after the subs take over.
Daugherty’s day ends after a Birger Kjorsvik leadoff single in the 7th (6-7-3-3-1-4), Winston in. He then proceeds to get two outs, a walk and a triple followed by an RBI ground out to blow a 6-3 lead. Pennington relieves him to start the 8th, and Mathew Moore drills his 2nd HR (28) leading off to put NY up 7-5.
Alfredo Lozano pinch hits with 1 out and 1 on in the 9th and drills his 4th HR to put us up 8-7. Cruz has a perfect 9th for his 17th Save.
CHI 8 NY 7 (103-57 +9)

Corpus Christi drops a 4 spot on LA in the 1st and the Wizards cannot recover, losing 5-2 to the Hooks.
Tulsa does the same to the Railcats and they too cannot recover, losing to the Drillers 7-2.
In the big game, Sacramento hammers home 5 in the 2nd and hangs on to beat, and eliminate, the Roughriders 8-2.
In the days wildest game, Fresno and New Hampshire go 1-0 Fresno after 1, 4-0 after 2, 5-3 after 3, 5-4 after 4, 8-4 after 5, 8-8 after 6 and into the 8th. In the 8th Jeff Holland drills a bases loaded single and Joe Rowe follows with a sac fly and Fresno holds on for a 10-8 win. Glenn Hanna’s perfect 9th and his 36th Save end it.

Gutierrez raised his OBP to .451, Arod to .450 today.

[gehrig38]

A batting title and HR race to decide, and possible records fall…

GAME 161
Gutierrez walks to lead it off (OBP to .452) and 4 hitters later Wes Morgan’s 2 rn single makes it a 2-0 game. That’s 131 RBI’s for Wes too. Mathew Moore drives in Oginlara after his leadoff single, with 2 outs, to make it 2-1 after 1. Mark Williams is the spot starter today….
In Wild Card and other news…
Fresno doesn’t play until 10:05 EST with Espinoza (11-12 4.49) for the Grizzlies against Junior Harvey the best pitcher the Fisher Cats have (13-8 5.53). Sacramento and Baltimore are 8:05 EST starts with Ken Williams (14-11 4.88) going for the Railcats against Joel Downs (14-13 4.93) for Tulsa and Sacramento is running out Jason England (4-4 5.17) vs Roughriders SP Merrill Fitzhugh (9-15 5.66).
Back to the game…
Gutierez grounds out in his 2nd AB but Hugh Collins drives in Jean Chartier for his 116th RBI. Both Chartier and Collins have 2 SB’s on the day, making it 37 for Jean and 33 for Collins.
A Chris Dixon leadoff error in the 3rd comes back to haunt as Marcos Oginlara hits his 24th HR to tie it at 3. Gutierrez pops up to go 0-2 and is at .346 now, and Williams works out of a bases loaded jam, 3-3 into the 5th.
2 Knight errors open the door in the top of the 6th as Lozano singles and steals 2nd, moving to third on a throwing error, then scores on a Chris Dixon RBI single. Later in the inning a 2nd Knight error on a Chartier grounder makes it 5-3. Eric Hudson is 3-3 and Gutierrez is 0-3 with 4 LOB as his day ends.
Williams day comes to a close after 7-7-3-2-2-1 and van Bodegraven, who’s been in a funk, throws a solid 8th. Lozano opens it up with his 5th HR, a 2 run shot, in the top of the 9th, 8-3 into the bottom half.
Ken Johnson tosses a perfect 9th for the 8-3 win.
CHI 8 NY 3 (104-57 +10)

RACE NEWS
Fresno 2B Dave Tyler went 2-4 with 2 runs 2 RBI’s on a double and his 4th HR to down New Hampshire 6-1. Antonio Espinoza (12-12 tossed a complete game 9-7-1-1-1-6 for the Grizzlies.
Sacramento scored 9 runs in the first 4 innings and then held off a Roughrider surge to win 10-8. Vasco Pitzi his his 23rd HR, a 3 run shot, and drove in 4 and Nori “the Rocket” Takahashi went 3-4 scoring twice.
Baltimore’s Randy Boyd drilled his 2nd HR of the day (30) in the top of the 10th of a 6-6 game. The 3 run shot made the Railcats 9-6 winners. Boyd was 2-5 with 6 RBI’s on 2 3 run homers.

Fresno's win eliminates the Railcats from the race.

BATTING RACE
Ernesto Garza went 1-4 to remain at .351, Gutierrez was 0-3 to drop to .345 and Gerald Wright went 2-4 to move to .343. Helton was 1-3 to drop to .342.

I have included the FL Strikeout race as it appears Walt Thompson will start on the seasons final day, trailing Elkins by 5. Elkins appears to be well rested but I assume he will not pitch today, but will open the playoffs for El Paso. This would be Thompsons 4th consecutive K title if he wins it.

[gehrig38]

Sprint to the finish……

Both games of meaning, New Hampshire at Fresno and Houston at Sacramento, don’t start until 9:05 CST, 3 hours after we start, so we will likely be done or close to done, before they get going. I’ll update races for the batting title and HR race, as well as Thompson’s quest for a 4th K title as news comes in during our game. Gutierrez is not starting with a lefty on the mound for NY, he will see 1 PH appearance at least. Johnny “all staff” will pitch this one for us.

GAME 162
An Alexander sac fly (166) and run scoring DP grounder make it 2-0 heading into the bottom of 3.

RACE NEWS
Apparently Elkins IS starting for the Diablos, can’t imagine that one but right now he’s listed, game starts at 8:05 CST.

BACK TO THE GAME
Elijah Walton comes in to get a few innings and surrenders Oginlara’s 25th HR, a 3 run bomb, in the 4th. 3-2 NY.
Bill Alexander stretches his Iron Pig single season RBI record to 167 with a game tying single in the top of the 7th. Gutierrez scores after leading off with a single (.347).

RACES
Elkins punches out 2 in the first for 239, but gives up a Dave Palmer solo shot. Brooklyn gets a Carlos Leon first inning Grand slam before Thompson even takes the hill to lead 4-0.

BACK TO THE GAME
Game heads to the bottom of 9, tied 3-3.

RACES
Elkins has 241 k’s now but trails 4-0 bottom 3. Leon hit another HR for Brooklyn, they lead 5-0 after 3. Tim Daivs (EDM) is 2-2 with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s so far today.

BACK TO THE GAME
Ernesto Gutierrez hits a sac fly in the 10th to drive in Lozano, 4-3 with Ernesto Cruz coming in.

RACES
Thompson heads into the 4th with 236 k’s, 5 behind Elkins.
In Sacramento, a Cy May RBI groundout has the Roughriders on top of Sacramento 1-0 in the top of 2.
Fresno and New Hampshire are scoreless in the 2nd.

BACK TO THE GAME
Cruz goes perfect in the 9th for his 18th save, and finishes the regular season not allowing a run in 21 innings.
CHI 4 NY 3 (105-57)

RACE NEWS
I am running the sim and watching the games unfold, and reporting as it happens.
From Fresno: Fishercat Robbie Griffin has drilled a solo HR in the 2nd to put New Hampshire up 1-0 heading into the bottom half of the 2nd.
Sacramento just got a 2 out 2 run single from Alan Thomas to go up 2-1, end of the 2nd. Fresno is trailing 1-0 in the 3rd.
Fresno scores on a Qi-chen Jung bases loaded walk after Holland had lined into a DP. 1-1 after 3.
In Sacramento Leo Aachen just hit a 2 run HR to put Houston up 4-2 after 3.5.
New Hampshire scores a run in the 4th to lead Fresno 2-1.
In Tulsa, the drillers pummeled Baltimore 15-6 with Curt Whimster going 5-5 on a 2B, HR and 3 RBI’s and George Perkins got the win, his 20th.
Elkins is still in the game in the 7th, with 245 punch outs now. Thompson has 4 through 7IP in Arizona.
Wright is 1-4 with a double and now at .342 on the season.
Fresno just got a Paul Rice solo HR to tie it at 2 apiece in the bottom of the 5th.
Sacramento still trails 4-2 in the top of the 6th, Houston hitting. Sacramento HAS to win to have a shot at this.
Rich Stone just tripled in Jeff Holland to give Fresno a 3-2 lead.
Elkins has 8 punch outs and 8 walks!!! Through 7, on 132 pitches.
In Fresno Orlando Rios was up, 1st and 3rd 1 out, up 3-2, and he grounded into an inning ending DP, 3-2 Fresno top of 6.
In Sacramento Nori Takahashi just hit a solo HR to bring the Rivercats to within a run, 4-3, bottom of 6.
In what could be HUGE playoff news Columbus Clipper RF Curt Peterson (.267-33-108) left the game with an undisclosed injury.
Walt Thompson won’t win his 4th straight K title but he did win his 19th game, finishing the year 19-11.
Sacramento goes quietly in the 7th. Heading to the 8th they are down 4-3, and the Fishercats are hitting in Fresno, with Fresno up 3-2 top of 7.
Sacramento up bottom 8, trailing by a run as Fresno escapes a 7th inning jam, now hitting bottom of 7, up 3-2.
Fresno and Sacramento are hitting simultaneously, Fresno just went 3 up 3 down and Sacramento has 1st and 3rd 2 outs……
BAH! Vasco Pitzi flies out to end the 8th. 4-3 Houston into the 9th.
In Fresno New Hampshire has just gotten a walk and a HBP, now Andres Romero has singled tying the game.
Robbie Griffin follows with an RBI ground out and then Fresno kicks a ball! 6-3 New Hampshire! Sacramento has 2 outs on Houston, top 9, before their final AB!!!
Heading to Sacramento to watch this final inning!
Houston sends in Tom Conklin to close it, and the River Cat season, out, if at all possible.
Howard Mathis works a 7 pitch AB to a full count before an F8 to start the inning.
Jason white battles to a full count as well, and grounds out to 2nd.
Alan Thomas goes 0-2 and then 3 balls puts the count full….
And he flies out to center to end the game, and the Sacramento season. Fresno has won the Coastal League Wild Card on the seasons final day!

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A peek at where the pundits thought this would all lead....and where it actually did go.

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In detail...

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In detail, what a wild card race...

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A new single season record for batting average from Jesus Andrales...

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Some great seasons...