The IBL's Alaska Avalanche

[Orcin]

I hope Cook turns out to be the real deal for you. It's great to be able to trade a handful of players that will all play key roles on their new team, while you will barely miss them.

Originally Posted by gehrig38

The other option would be going after Manny, but I just can't bring myself to do it, even in a virtual world.

[gehrig38]

MOVING FORWARD AND THE 2029 ALASKA AVALANCHE ROSTER

First off a game play comment and then onto the completed roster. This rebuild, this “trying to get over the Chicago hump” has been fun. I think I am going to 'move on' and I think the marker I'm going to use to do that is a 90 or 95 fan interest. Once I hit that I will look to move to someplace logical. I enjoy the ability to see the league from different angles and there is enough history now that there are some teams out there I'd like to take a shot at (next one is DEF Michigan if they haven't made the post season by then!)

2029 AVALANCHE
STARTING ROTATION
Hall, Drake, Hernandez and Mike Bowman are the top 4 going into spring training. RJ, Rodgers, Shimizu and Caldwell will battle for that 5th spot. In my mind it's actually RJ vs Rodgers right now, with Caldwell, popular or not, being insurance and Shimizu I would like to get his feet wet before giving him the innings. RJ could provide me with a huge power lefty but we managed to get the Gonzalez twins this winter. The saying 'you can never have enough pitching”? Ya that's true, and always will be. Someone will be needed I am not expecting.



BULLPEN
8 arms for 6 jobs. Casas closes, Sheppard and Hansen setup with Mario and Pedro Gonzalez. 3 righties and 2 lefties, meaning Buffy, White, Mathis and Francisco Rodriguez will battle for that final spot. Going in Hayden Buffy has the job to lose honestly. But I like that I am finally able to strike the balance, and if need be go 3 L 3 R.



CATCHING
Most of the organization depth, below the IBL is in the lower minors. Scouts report our top power prospect Fred McKenzie took some backward steps this winter, which could present a problem. That being said with Luke Stover and Carnaxide the position is set for the foreseeable future. Stover looks to be one of the top 2-3 backstops in the league, and he's still getting better behind the plate, and at it. Scouts are sure he's got more HR power and better zone discipline yet to come. Considering the year he just had that's promising. Caranaxide could start every day if needed, he's that good. Castillo is very good insurance.



INFIELD
A 6 man pen, 5 starters and 2 catchers, means I have 12 spots for INF/OF + DH. Cole Martin is the DH, so that leaves 11. The idea is 6 IF's, which leaves 5 OF spots. Right now I have 7 capable IBL infielders, counting super sub Alex Covington.
Harrell is the 1st baseman, and cleanup hitter. Jorge Vera looks to take over at 2nd, Holland remains at 3rd after bouncing back HUGE from a horrible start last year and having a great post season as well. That leaves Garcia, Rivera, Martinez and Covington to cover SS and two backup IF'ers. Rivera can man both SS and 3B at elite levels, and play 2B in a pinch. Martinez is a true SS only. Garcia can play all three (2B, SS and 3B) while Covington can play anywhere, and everywhere, including OF.
Rivera, Martinez and Covington are RHH, Garcia left. Much like having too much pitching, I am thinking this will eventually work itself out. If not I've got a very good player to send down, or move, at the end of camp.



OUTFIELD/DH
Here's where the organization has taken a dramatic turn. With Aguilar, Brady, Cook and Morton I have a Chicago Iron Pigs OF potential of the mid teens. Cabrera and Michael Young round it out. This is an outfield on its way to being a premier run scoring machine. Those 6 are working for 5 spots. Cook, Morton and Aguilar are the anchors, none older than 23. I feel the trade this winter was the final piece to the puzzle in building a true dynasty.



There are no trades needing to be made, I love what's happened. The only 'concern' if that's the right word, is that the core pieces are a bit on the younger side right now. Hope to see them get better as we move into, and through, spring training.

[Orcin]

I really like the career stats shown on this analysis. I may have to steal that one!

[gehrig38]

THE CALENDAR TURNS
New York snags one of the winters big fish in Walt Peeler. After the loss of Manny Ramirez they were in need of another bat, and this was the answer.

I had dabbled din Ramon Castro prior to the trades and it's clear why there was no common ground. 109.7M is a massive chunk of change. The bigger news? That he hopped across town to bitter Chicago rival Green Bay.



And a day later the Blizzard snatch up another iconic Iron Pig in Jeffrey Hudson. Lots of confusion over this one given what many believe to be an aging player with a severely declining skill set.

And there's that name again. Bryant Thomas. For those new to this, when I was in Chicago I had Bryant. I thought his command would be the thing that kept him from being an IBL SP. Likely will go down as the worst, or one of the top 3 worst, trades in IBL history as I dealt him to the Tulsa Drillers for INF John Overhill. Overhill had a marginal career at best, Thomas? Take a look...

[gehrig38]

San Antonio making two big moves in Green and Williams. Valentin's deal with Staten Island is 3 years 28.8 million.

With closer Dale Picot in the fold, Dayton makes 2 huge bullpen moves in Vazquez and then steals Castro from their division rivals Columbus.






Interesting, and odd, news out of Chicago. Ace Rob Bright is hurt the morning of the press conference to announce his new 5 year 70 million dollar deal.

The New Hampshire Sacramento deal reunites Beckett in Sacramento with former teammate Angelo Esparza.

[gehrig38]

The Sanders deal to Boston is 4 years 37.2M.

LA announces the signing of two veteran SP's. Arnold (19-10 4.10) and CC (11-12 4.60) to round out their rotation. They have 2 good young arms who are on the 60 day with lengthy stays. Nice and rather cheap signs here that have big upside.

Ishida's deal is 3 years at 34.7 million.



Still some interesting names out there.

[gehrig38]

2029 SPRING TRAINING
Not a single injury to speak of. Knock on wood.

Pitching staff
Hall, Drake, Hernandez, Bowman and RJ are the starting 5 with Casas closing, Sheppard, Buffy Hansen as the righties and the Gonzo twins as the pens lefties.
Shimizu had a very good spring, but some AAA innings can't hurt. Carlos Hernandez has some scouts worried, on our last eval his tools came back as regressing, the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a 25 year old. RJ has to start proving himself, especially with the depth of arms knocking on the door.
I think this is the best pen, by far, 1-6 that I have had since I was here.
Lineup
No real surprises. Paco Martinez was sent down at the end of camp. He's 23 and still getting better and needs to play every day. The outfield is stacked, enough so that Raul Aguilar was sent to Eagan, despite his wishes to remain. He too needs to play every day and keep improving. This outfield is very good, and getting better. Cook in left, Morton in right with Brady in CF. Cabrera will spell corners and play to stay fresh and Young will be the RHH guy to help Cook make this a more formidable offense vs LHP. My only concern is that I have not one CF beyond Brady.



Two deals at camps end. A highly unpopular trade with Baltimore, sending the insanely popular fringe guy in Bill Caldwell to Baltimore for 23 year old SP Paul Williams. A 2024 2nd rounder by West Michigan our scouts think he could be a sleeper. (Fan interested dropped to 76 after this one)

The second was to move a guy out of options in Bobby White. 23 year old lefty Luis Padilla is a good arm, incredibly durable who could be a left hander out of the pen if needed.

[gehrig38]

FINAL DAY OF THE “OFF SEASON”
Seems Zach is not the pushy guy his father is. Expecting .500 ball? Wow, ok.






Not sure how to feel about this, I've been here quite a few times but with teams that contended for a world series. Stan Cannon hasn't signed yet and I REALLY need that to happen before the June draft.



Really Chicago? Really? Damn. Certainly excited about the 112 wins, and that 4 of the 5 starters in my rotation are predicted to bust out. Worried though, about Hernandez. His control has dropped 3 pts since late last year (12 to 9). I was really hoping RJ would bust out this year too.

But seriously, not one offensive player on the board?



Keystone looks to be a dogfight, be nice to see the Colts get into the mix. No real dominant season from any 1 team, which will be nice if it plays out.

Some HUGE HR seasons. Looks like Esparaza vs Webb for the CL Koufax? Esteban Figueroa could be back too. Esparza predicted to throw 301 innings?

[gehrig38]

Not sure what to think here. In the past season since being drafted my scouts have consistently been down on Fred McKenzie. We drafted, what we thought, was an ENORMOUS power bat behind the plate. The power remains, but his offensive game as a whole has declined pretty steady, which is disappointing to say the least. He's still just 20, but this begs a deeper look into the systems minor league coaches. To that end former Iron Pig slugger Pedro Salinas was hired, and has been promoted to Class A Spokane to oversee McKenzie this year. I've also extended an offer to former 1B Travis Bryant, to do the same job in Rookie ball.

Notice the old home? Columbus, Dayton and Chicago are in the lower half while Green Bay checks in at 2.

[Mr. Baseball]

Geez! 112 wins is a pretty big projection.

I'm also gawking at the 152 RBI prediction for Woolridge.

[gehrig38]

A 58 million dollar payroll for a team that will be in contention, no one can complain. Moved ticket prices to an even 25 dollars this year.
Fan interest begins the year at 76. Huge bump in scouting expenses this winter and I hope to see that paying dividends.



Fans are in love with pitching, still. The last two names on that list are guys in AAA, go figure. I have been in talks with Casas on an extension, he's the only key player up for FA after this season. Attendance has been great, last year the extra capacity was needed, as we set an all time high. Looking to add more in renovations next winter as well.

The minor leagues are about where I had hoped they'd be 5 years in. The top organization in the game, with the depth of talent now spread between the mound and the plate. With the exception of Sexton all of my top talent is 21 or younger. The AAA club is flat out stacked this year and should dominate with Aguilar and Barkman in the outfield, Martinez at SS, Sexton and a deep young staff led by Shimizu.

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 1
RECORD: 4-2
OVERALL: 4-2 +1
RUNS FOR: 22
RUNS AGAINST: 21
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 76/100
SCHEDULE: Off Day/3 vs Arizona/3 @ West Michigan/Off Day

4/1
Off day

4/2
ALK 5 AZ 4
W-Casas (1-0) L-V.Rodriguez (0-1)
HR AZ-Craig (1) ALK-Holland WO (1)
Christian Holland drilled a 1 out solo homer in the walk off win as Stan Hall went 8-6-4-4-3-12 in the home opener. Luke Stover was 2-4 with 2 RBI's.

4/3
ALK 7 AZ 0
W-Drake (1-0) L-M.Alexander (0-1)
HR NONE
John Drake (7.2-7-0-0-3-4) and Pedro Gonzalez (1.1-1-0-0-0-2) combined on the seasons 1st shut out and Bob Brady (2-4) and Richard Morton (1-3) each drove in 2.

NEWS-Former slugger Travis Bryant has agreed to terms on a multi-year deal to be the hitting coach in Rookie League Fairbanks.

4/4
AZ 5 ALK 0
W-F.Martinez (1-0) L-Hernandez (0-1)
HR AZ-Robles (1)
Felix Hernandez went 9-4-0-0-3-6 for the seasons 1st CG shutout. Roberto Robles went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's. Fernando Ordonez had a double (2) and 3 hits.

4/5
ALK 8 WMI 4
W-Bowman (1-0) L-Vogel (0-1) S-Casas (1)
HR WMI-Bolton (2) Padilla (2)
4 relievers managed 3-1-0-0-3-3 in backing Mike Bowmans 1st win (6-5-4-4-5-8). Brady went 2-5 with a triple (1) and 3 RBI's (5) and Jorge Viera was 2-2.

ROSTER NEWS-With so many players on the waiver wire, it pays to look closely. My need for a Center Fielder was met when I saw that Arizona had place OF Anthony Hawkins on waivers. He's a 26 year old switch hitting LF/CF with elite defensive skills, and huge pop from the left side (his strong side). Being a switch this move allows me to shop 28 year old Michael Young to clear a roster spot (see following news)

ALASKA, BALTIMORE, SWAP
Young heads to the Colts for a very good reliever in Luciano Craxi. Hawkins will come onto the roster and Craxi will bide his time, unhappily, in Eagan for now. He's a very good RH reliever with a lot of club control left, and he's just 25 years old.



4/6
WMI 8 ALK 0
W-C.Miller (2-0) L-R.Johnson (0-1)
HR WMI-Bolton 2 (4)
Cody Miller went 7-3-0-0-3-10 and Neal Bolton went 2-3 with 2 homers, driving in 5 (7). Tom Wynn was 3-4.

4/7
ALK 4 WMI 0
W-Hall (1-0) L-A.Johnson (1-1)
HR ALK-Holland (2) Cook (1)
Stan Hall needed just 107 pitches in tossing a 5-hitter. He walked none and struck out 5. Lowell Cook hit his 1st Alaska HR and Joao Carnaxide went 3-5 with a double (1)..

4/8
OFF DAY

GOOD GAMES-SP Hunter Moore, the guy I dealt to New Hampshire in the Brady/Cook trade, tossed a 2-hitter in beating Arizona 8-0.

FREE AGENTS-Arizona inks CL Brandon Andre (former Chicago reliever of mine) to a 1 year 7.4M dollar deal and inserts him into the closer role. They're off to a 1-6 start.

The Iron Pigs turn around and sign the most talked about reliever all winter, Orlando Perez. The 28 year old signed a deal for 1 year, at 5.9 million.

SIGNINGS-Las Vegas signs 3B Dave Adams to a 4 year 36.8M dollar contract extension. Adams hit .292-21-82 in the 51's run to the World Series last year.

2029 SEASON WEEK 1 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-John Naylor (SI) 13-24 7 HR's 11 RBI's (.517-7-12) (7 homers and 8 RBI's in his last 4 games)
CL POTW-James Welch (SJ) 14-30 5 HR's 12 RBI's (.471-6-14)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Los Angeles
2) Buffalo
3) New Hampshire
4) Tulsa
5) Baltimore
Alaska (6)

NEWS/NOTES
Big time injury news out of Corpus Christi, as they lose ace Adolfo Gobbi for the 2029 season.

The Gonzales signing opened the door for the waiver claim/ensuing trade earlier.

The 7th is a nightmare day for a few teams. Padilla and Balfour are lost for huge chunks of the season while Gamble is lost for the whole thing. 3 impact guys gone week 1. Should make the remaining free agents, and there are still some good ones, much more attractive.



The following day Vegas loses a star of its own. Premier defensive OF'er Bill Hull breaks an ankle and is down 4-5 months.

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 2
RECORD: 5-2
OVERALL: 9-4 +2.5 (Edmonton 7-7)
RUNS FOR: 62 (40) 10th
RUNS AGAINST: 49 (28) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 76/100
SCHEDULE: 3 @ Michigan/4 vs Staten Island/1 vs New York

4/9
MICH 6 ALK 4
W-McGowan (1-1) L-M.Gonzalez (0-1) S- Rea (1)
HR-Cook (2) Covington (1) MICH-Turner (1) J.Smith (1) Liffiton (1)
Dan McGowan went 8-6-3-3-1-6 and Mario Gonzalez entered a 3-2 game and gave up 2 home runs, walking 4 in just 1.2 IP. Tim Turner went 2-4 with a single and a homer and drove in a run (2). Alex Covington went 2-3 with his 1st homer in the loss.

4/10
ALK 8 MICH 4
W-Hernandez (1-1) L-Machado (0-2) S-Casas (2)
HR ALK-Brady (1) MICH-Altagracia (4)
Carlos Hernandez managed to work around 6 walks in 6.2 innings before Antonio Altagracia's 3 run homer ended his day. Jorge Cabrera went 4-5 with 2 doubles (3) and drove in 2 (3) while Enrique Garcia was 3-4 with a triple and 2 RBI's (2) in his first start of the year. Tim Foster went 3-5 in the loss.

GREAT GAMES-Dave Vogel (WMI) tossed a 3-hitter, striking out 7 in a 5-0 win over Edmonton.

MILESTONES-The 3000 hit club has its first member. What a way to get that 3000th!





3000 HIT CLUB
Curt Whimster (LV) 4/10/29 (40 years 322 days) 3 Run Home Run in the 4th inning off Eric Arnold (LA)

4/11
ALK 4 MICH 3
W-Bowman (2-0) L-Parsons (0-2) S-Casas (3)
HR NONE
Mike Bowman went 6.2-3-0-0-5-5 on 111 pitches and the pen held a shut out into the 9th. Rafael Parsons went 9-5-4-4-4-5 in the loss. Bob Brady went 3-3 with a triple (2) and 2 RBI's (10).

4/12
ALK 7 SI 5
W-R.Johnson (1-1) L-Poe (1-2) S-Buffy (1)
HR ALK-Martin (1) Cabrera (1)
RJ worked around 7 walks and just 2 hits in 6, giving up 3 before leaving with the bases loaded. Hayden Buffy spelled a tired Casas for his 1st save. Brady (2-3) Cabrera (2-3 HR (1)) Harrell (2-4 2 RBI's (4)) and Christian Holland (2-3) had 2 hit days. Jorge Viera (2) and Harrell (4) each drove in 2.

4/13
ALK 7 SI 1
W-Hall (2-0) L-Duarte (0-1)
HR ALK-Brady GS (2) Martin (2)
Stan Hall went 8.1-5-1-1-0-9 and the offense was paced by Bob Brady's 2-4 day with a grand slam and 5 RBI's (16).

4/14
ALK 6 SI 2
W-Drake (2-0) L-Alba (0-2)
HR ALK-Stover 2 (2)
John Drake matched outings, almost, with Stan Hall, going 8.1-3-2-1-2-8 on 117 pitches and Luke Stover broke out of an early season funk going 3-3 with 2 homers, driving in 5 (8).

GOOD GAMES-Gary Montgomery (SAN) tossed a 3-hitter in a 1-0 win over El Paso to move to 1-0 1.08 in 3 starts.

4/15
NY 7 ALK 4
W-Foster (3-0) L-M.Gonzalez (0-2) S-Kurota (2)
HR NY-Fabian GS (1)
Miguel Fabian's 7th inning grand slam off Keith Hansen turned a 4-3 lead into a 7-4 loss. Walks hurt again, as did an ineffective bullpen. Carlos Hernandez went 6-6-3-3-4-9 on 112 pitches in a ND. Melvin Foster picked up his 3rd win, going 8-9-4-2-0-4. Fabian was 2-5 with 5 RBI's (5). Christian Holland went 3-4 in the loss.

2029 SEASON WEEK 2 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Sozui Kokawa (DAY) 15-30 5 RBI's (.396-0-6)
CL POTW-Jeffrey Bullock (SAN) 13-28 4 HR's 8 RBI's (.353-4-11)

IBL SINGLE SEASON RECORD: TOTAL BASES
468 Ramon Castro (CHI) '26
461 Tony Greene '21
449 Bill Hill '12
446 Gerald Wright '15
429 Cy May '12

POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (-)
2) West Michigan (-)
3) New Hampshire (3)
4) Tulsa (4)
5) Pittsburgh (-)
Alaska (6)

NEWS/NOTES2029 SEASON WEEK
Fresno grabs a top shelf outfielder on the cheap, for just this season.

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 3
RECORD: 5-1
OVERALL: 14-5 +6.5 (Arizona 8-12)
RUNS FOR: 91 (29) 10th
RUNS AGAINST: 61 (12) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 76/100
SCHEDULE: 2 vs New York/Off Day/3 @ Hawaii/1 @ Edmonton

4/16
ALK 3 NY 0
W-Bowman (3-0) L-Patterson (0-1) S-Casas (4)
HR ALK-Cook (3)
Mike Bowman and Cisco Casas combined on a 5-hit shutout. Bowman went 8-4-0-0-1-8 before being pulled, against his wishes, after 128 pitches. Lowell Cook's 3 run homer in the 5th was all the scoring. Mauro Fabian had 3 of New York's 5 hits.

4/17
ALK 7 NY 4
W-R.Johnson (2-1) L-Romano (2-1) S-Casas (5)
HR NY-Peeler (4) Ba (2) ALK-Hawkins (1) Rivera GS (1)
RJ took a shutout into the 8th before back to back homers ended his day. He went 7.1-8-4-4-3-9 on 120 pitches. Pedro Rivera hit a grand slam and Cook (2-4) Holland (2-4) and Covington (2-4) all had 2 hit days, Cook scored twice.

FREE AGENTS-A winter long stand off ended when Lorenzo Bermudez resigned with the Patriots for 1 year. The two sides worked all winter and Philly walked away after offering him 4+ years and 50+ million. He's evidently fired his agents....



4/18
Off Day

4/19
ALK 9 HAW 1
W-Hall (3-0) L-Butler (0-3)
HR HAW-Ortiz (4)
Stan Hall tossed a complete game 4-hitter, punching out 7 and walking 2 on 123 pitches. Pedro Rivera was 2-3 with a double (2) and 3 runs and Anthony Hawkins (3) and Bob Brady (19) each drove in 2.

4/20
HAW 5 ALK 4
W-G.Ortiz (1-1) L-M.Gonzalez (0-3) S-German (2)
HR HAW-Graham (3)
Gilberto Esquivel went 4-5 with a double (5) and scored twice as the Warriors pounded out 14 hits. Christian Holland was 3-5 with a double (5) in the loss and Pedro Rivera went 3-4.

INJURY NEWS-Tulsa took a huge gamble in trading Ameixieira this winter and that just took a bad turn. Javier Martinez, the centerpiece of the deals return, broke his kneecap and will take his .320-6-16 to the DL for the next 4-5 months.

4/21
ALK 3 HAW 0
W-Hernandez (2-1) L-Cameron (2-1) S-Casas (6)
HR NONE
Hernandez went 6.2-6-0-0-2-4 with help from 4 relievers to beat FL ERA and strike out leader Stan Cameron. Enrique Garcia drove in 2 (4) and Christian Holland was 2-4 with a triple (1).

4/22
ALK 3 EDM 2
W-Bowman (4-0) L-M.Lewis (0-3) S-Casas (7)
HR ALK-Harrell (1) EDM-Boyce (1)
Mike Bowman took a 3-hit shutout into the 9th before a Dennis Boyce homer ended his day (8.1-4-1-1-0-5) as he moves to 4-0 1.55, beating '28 Koufax winner Mike Lewis (8-7-1-1-1-11). Cole Martin went 4-4 and Bob Harrell ended his career high 18 game homerless drought with a 1st inning solo shot.

2029 SEASON WEEK 3 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Christian Liffiton (MICH) 11-28 5 HR's 9 RBI's (.265-6-12)
CL POTW-Angel Marquez (LA) 10-22 4 HR's 6 RBI's (.368-8-13)

POWER RANKINGS
1) West Michigan (2)
2) Chicago (1)
3) Alaska (6)
4) Tulsa (4)
5) Los Angeles (-)
OUT New Hampshire (9) Pittsburgh (8)

[gehrig38]

.

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 4
RECORD: 6-1
OVERALL: 20-6 +8 (Arizona 12-14)
RUNS FOR: 133 (42) 6th
RUNS AGAINST: 80 (19) 2nd
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 76/100
SCHEDULE: 3 @ Edmonton/3 @ Green Bay/1 vs Dayton

4/23
ALK 8 EDM 2
W-R.Johnson (3-1) L-Marquez (2-2)
HR ALK-Brady (3) EDM-Grueter (8)
RJ carried a 3-hit shutout into the 9th before Horst Grueters 2 out homer. He went 8.2-5-2-2-1-11 on 123 pitches and Bob Brady went 2-5 with 2 RBI's (22).

GOOD GAMES-Larry Lowry (NO) tossed a 3-hitter in a 5-0 win over Dallas today. He's 3-2 1.91 in 5 starts.

RECORD BREAKING GAMES!!!-Wow, and fwiw he did it in 8 innings! It breaks Esteban Figueroa's 6 year old record of 19 in a game.





4/24
ALK 3 EDM 0
W-Hall (4-0) L-Shields (2-2) S-P.Gonzalez (1)
HR ALK-Harrell (2)
Stan Hall tossed 7.2 scoreless innings, striking out 9 and walking none in a 3-0 win. Bob Harrell was 3-5 with a homer and 2 runs and the offense pounded out 15 hits (leaving 15 on as well).

4/25
ALK 13 EDM 1
W-Drake (3-0) L-Dicken (1-4)
HR ALK-Martin (3)
Bob Brady went 4-5 with a triple (4) and 5 RBI's (27), Bob Harrell went 3-4 with an RBI (7) and Cole Martin was 4-5 with a double (5) homer scoring 3 times and driving in 2 (5). John Drake went 7-5-1-1-0-5 to move to 3-0 2.31.

GOOD GAMES-26 year old Hoo-gwo Yang (TUL) moved to 4-0 1.88 in 5 starts after a 7-0 win over El Paso. He gave up 5 hits and struck out 5.

FREE AGENTS-Sacramento managed to convince Jose Torres to come onboard for 1 year and 6.22 million.

4/26
ALK 2 GB 1
W-Hernandez (3-1) L-Moreno (1-4) S-Casas (8)
HR NONE
Carlos Hernandez kept the run of strong starting pitching going with a 7.2-5-1-1-2-5 outing and Pedro Gonzalez (H4) and Cisco Casas closed it out. Jorge Cabrera was 3-5 with a double (4) and an RBI (7) and Christian Holland was 2-4 with a double (6).

INJURY NEWS-The IBL's leading hitter, Asiman Swagat (CHI), strained his PCL and will miss the next 4-5 weeks. Swagat was hitting .447-0-15 when he went down. The Iron Pigs are 19-6, 9 games up on 9-14 Dayton.

4/27
GB 7 ALK 4
W-Kelley (3-1) L-Bowman (4-1) S-Ramon (2)
HR GB-Gilfedder (5) Malcolm (6) Jackson (2)
Pat Kelley got 7 runs in support of his 6.2-8-2-2-1-5 outing and Mike Bowman laid his 1st egg of the season (2-5-6-6-3-2). Bob Brady went 2-4 with 3 RBI's to continue his assault on the April RBI record (no chance but it sounds nice).

4/28
ALK 8 GB 5
W-R.Johnson (4-1) L-J.Martinez (1-4) S-Casas (9)
HR ALK-Holland (3) Hawkins (2) GB-Castro (3)
Anthony Hawkins went 2-4 with a bases loaded double and a 3 run homer to drive in 6 (11) as RJ went 5.1-6-4-4-4-5 on 116 pitches and then got bailed out by the pen.

4/29
ALK 4 DAY 3
W-Hall (5-0) L-Horne (0-3) S-Casas (10)
HR DAY-Kokawa (3) ALK-Martin (4)
Stan Hall finishes off a great April (5-0 1.44) by going 8-5-3-2-1-7. Cole Martin's 3 run homer in the 6th was the game winner.

FREE AGENT NEWS-New York has convinced Tony Greene to come aboard for the 2029 season. They are currently 12th in the FL in runs, and 4th in all important pitching categories, but just 12-14, 2.5 back of Buffalo (15-10). You veteran readers may remember him bursting onto the scene and winning the 2021 MVP (.342-59-147). He's a 6 time all star as well. He's a career .321/.356/.581 hitter with 325 homers and 1103 RBI's in 1249 games.

2029 SEASON WEEK PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Chris Gilfedder (GB) 10-20 3 HR's 8 RBI's (.374-5-15)
CL POTW-Tom Wood (BOS) 13-29 5 HR's 6 RBI's (.337-6-21)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (3)
2) West Michigan (1)
3) Chicago (2)
4) Tulsa (4)
5) New Orleans (-)
OUT Los Angeles (12)

[gehrig38]

A good month, Stan Hall back to being himself.

April Records (Bold denotes record set/tied this year)
AVG .482 Luis Gil (EDM) '26 (Old Record) .479 Todd Helton (GB) '16
HR 14 Julio Morin (PIT) '22 Pedro Roman (FRE) '25
RBI's 42 Tony Green (DAY) '23 old record 39 Todd Helton (PHI) '19
SB's 17 Carl Crawford (GB) '18 Jimmy Rollins (PHI) '20 Enrique Garcia (ALK) '26
Wins 6 Raul Gonzalez (HOU) '13 Chris O'Slattery (BAL) '14 Barry Zito (EP) '19 Jose Hernandez (CHI) '29
Saves 18 Michael Ross (HOU) '13
K's 61 Ramon Roa (PIT) '19 Esteban Figueroa (SAC) '23 (Bryant Thomas (FRE) 60 '29)

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 5
RECORD: 4-2
OVERALL: 24-8 +9 (Arizona 15-17)
RUNS FOR: 154 (21) 11th
RUNS AGAINST: 96 (16) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 73/100 (-3 from the Cannon signing I guess?)
SCHEDULE: 2 vs Dayton/Off Day/3 @ Los Angeles/1 @ Fresno

4/30
DAY 4 ALK 3
W-S.Martinez (2-0) L-Drake (3-1) S-Picot (7)
HR ALK-Hawkins (3)
Sergio Martinez went 8-8-3-3-2-1 and Dayton used a 3 run 6th aided by a Carnaxide passed ball to win 4-3.

5/1
ALK 5 DAY 4
W-Hansen (1-0) L-Picot (0-2)
HR DAY-Arroyo (4) ALK-Brady (4) Martin (5)
Enrique Garcia laced a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th after a Richard Morton 2 strike hit and run single. Luo-Shan Chao was 3-5 with a double (4) in the loss and Bob Brady homered and drove in 2 (33).

FREE AGENTS-I'd almost forgotten! The comp pick will be helpful. We are picking 8th overall, and the comp pick is 10th in the supplemental round, so it will be the 41st overall pick.



5/2
Off Day

5/3
LA 2 ALK 0
W-Morgan (6-0) L-Bowman (4-2) S-Rowan (7)
HR LA-Edmonds (2) Quintana (2)
Morgan (8-4-0-0-0-12) and Bowman (8-4-2-2-1-4) hooked up in a fantastic pitchers duel with LA hitting 2 solo homers in the 7th.

GREAT GAMES-Alberto Rocha (EP) tossed a 1-hitter in a 6-0 win over Columbus. He punched out 9 and walked 1.

5/4
I swear I had no idea, until the game ended and the achievement unlocked! It's the first IBL no-hitter since Oswalt (5/11/28) last year. It's the 1st ever for Alaska. The first inning run threw me off big time, never looked at the H box after that.





5/5
ALK 3 LA 2
W-P.Gonzalez (1-0) L-Cintron (0-1) S-Casas (11)
HR LA-Quintana 2 (4)
Hall (7-4-2-2-2-9) and Hoffman (6.2-4-2-2-5-8) battled to a standstill before Richard Morton drove in PH Enrique Garcia in the top of the 9th with the game winner.

GREAT GAMES-Can't remember the last one, now back to back days.



Star denotes a pitcher throwing a 2nd no-hitter, blue diamond = perfect game.



5/6
ALK 6 FRE 3
W-Drake (4-1) L-Bond (2-3) S-Casas (12)
HR ALK-Covington (2) FRE-Lopez (2)
Drake tosses a gem (8-5-3-3-0-10) and Alex Covington's 3 run shot in the 1st combined with 2 hit days from Cook, Holland and Rivera are the difference.

2029 SEASON WEEK 5 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Gary Scheid (PRO) 8-21 5 HR's 11 RBI's (.307-7-24)
CL POTW-Dennis McKenzie (DAL) 11-22 3 HR's 8 RBI's (.286-9-26)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) West Michigan (2)
3) New Hampshire (-)
4) Chicago (3)
5) Tulsa (4)
OUT New Orleans (7)

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 6
RECORD: 6-1
OVERALL: 30-9 +13.5 (Arizona 16-22)
RUNS FOR: 216 (62) 4th
RUNS AGAINST: 121 (25) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 73/100
SCHEDULE: 2 @ Fresno/4 vs Arizona/1 vs Hawaii

5/7
FRE 7 ALK 4
W-Hall (3-2) L-M.Gonzalez (0-4) S-Mori (10)
HR ALK-Holland (5)
A 3-2 lead imploded when the pen gave up 5 in the 7th. Ben Hall went 7-8-3-3-5-4 on 125 pitches. Miguel Padilla went 3-5 with 2 doubles (12) and Manuel Rodriguez was 3-5. Jose Garcia drove in 3 (18).

5/8
ALK 13 FRE 4
W-Bowman (5-2) L-Palacios (2-2)
HR ALK-Martin (7)
Cole Martin went 4-5 with a double (7) homer and 5 RBI's (15) and Richard Morton snapped out of an early season funk going 4-4 with a double (5) 3 runs and 2 RBI's (11). Bob Brady was 3-5 with a triple and 3 runs scored. Mike Bowman went 7-4-3-3-3-5 for his 5th win.

5/9
ALK 12 AZ 6
W-Johnson (6-1) L-Notenboom (4-1)
HR AZ-Rodriguez (8) ALK-Viera (1) Cook (5)
Bob Brady went 3-4 with 2 doubles (6) and scored 3 times and Anthony Hawkins was 2-5 with a double (3) and 3 RBI's (16) to back Johnson's 6-3-3-3-3-6 outing. Holland (13) Martin (17) and Cook (15) each drove in 2.

GOOD GAMES- 26 year old Mike O'Daly (PHI) tossed a 3-hitter in an 8-0 win over Pittsburgh. O'Daly is 4-2 5.17 in 7 starts.

5/10
ALK 4 AZ 0
W-Hall (6-0) L-Alberigo (1-2)
HR NONE
Stan Hall tossed a 4-hit shutout, needing just 101 pitches to strike out 9 and walk none. It was his 40th career complete game and 18th career shutout (4th all time, Mike Lewis (EDM) has 23). The win moves him to 6-0 1.36 on the year. Richard Morton tripled (1) and had 2 hits and Lowell Cook went 2-3 with 2 RBI's (17).

NEWS-Pittsburgh re-ups 2B Charles Conklin to a 2 year 11.4 million dollar extension. Conklin hit .296-10-55 last season for the Bulldogs.

5/11
ALK 7 AZ 3
W-Drake (5-1) L-Alexander (4-4)
HR AZ-Robles (6) ALK-Cabrera (2) Martin (8)
John Drake continued the dominating run by the starting staff, going 8-5-1-1-0-7 on 106 pitches. Cole Martin drove in 4 (21) and Jorge Cabrera went 3-4 with a homer and 3 RBI's (10).

INJURY NEWS-SS Pedro Rivera went down with a strained quad and will be out 3-4 weeks. With Mario Gonzalez struggling big time, and being a rule 5, I am going to recall Luciano Craxi.

5/12
ALK 8 AZ 5
W-Craxi (1-0) L-F.Martinez (3-4) S-Casas (13)
HR AZ-Robles (7) ALK-Holland (6)
Christian Holland's 3 run homer in the 8th snapped a 5-5 tie and made a winner out of Luciano Craxi in his first Alaska appearance. Anthony Hawkins was 2-3 with 2 doubles (5) and 2 RBI's (18) and scored twice.

5/13
ALK 14 HAW 0
W-Bowman (6-2) L-Bruce (1-7)
HR ALK-Hawkins (4) Cook (6)
Mike Bowman tossed a 4-hitter, punching out 10 in the Avalanche's 7th shutout in the first 39 games. Jorge Viera doubled (8) and scored 3 times, Joao Carnaxide went 2-4 and drove in 2 (5). Anthony Hawkins was 2-5 with a double (6) homer and 4 RBI's (22).

INJURY NEWS-New Orleans learned that ace Rafael Valentin (17-13 3.19 last year) will be shelved 3-4 months with a labrum injury. He was 4-3 4.22 in 8 starts this year, New Orleans is 21-17, 2 games behind Dallas.

2029 SEASON WEEK 6 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Horst Grueter (EDM) 11-25 4 HR's 12 RBI's (.289-14-38)
CL POTW-Antonio Sandoval (CC) 10-23 4 HR's 10 RBI's (.285-8-24)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) New Hampshire (3)
3) West Michigan (2)
4) Chicago (4)
5) Pittsburgh (-)
OUT Tulsa (7)

[gehrig38]

2029 SEASON WEEK 7
RECORD: 4-3
OVERALL: 34-12 +14.5 (Arizona 19-26)
RUNS FOR: 246 (30) 4th
RUNS AGAINST: 144 (23) 1st
OWNER/FANS: Ecstatic 73/100
SCHEDULE: 3 vs Hawaii/3 @ New Hampshire/1 @ Providence

5/14
ALK 2 HAW 1 (11)
W-P.Gonzalez (2-0) L-Ortiz (1-3)
HR ALK-Cook (7)
RJ goes 7-2-1-1-4 with a career high 14 k's in a ND as the pen comes in and tosses 4-1-0-0-1-6. Enrique Garcia singled home Luke Stover in the 11th for the walk off win. Alex Covington was 3-5 and Garcia was 3-5 as well.

5/15
ALK 9 HAW 1
W-Hall (7-0) L-Wagner (4-3)
HR ALK-Hawkins (5)
Hall goes 7-6-1-1-0-8 to move to 7-0 1.36 on the year and Anthony Hawkins goes 2-4 with his 5th homer and drives in 2 (24). Jorge Viera is 0-2 with 2 runs and 2 SB's (10).

5/16
HAW 6 ALK 3
W-Cameron (4-2) L-Drake (5-2) S-German (8)
HR HAW-Ortiz (11)
Stan Cameron moved to 4-2 2.44 with an 8-8-3-3-3-8 outing to beat John Drake (6-10-4-4-1-7). Francisco Castillanos was 4-4 with a double (7) and 2 RBI's (6). Bob Harrell was 3-4 with a double (11) and 2 RBI's (13).

5/17
ALK 5 NH 1
W-Hernandez (4-1) L-Buckley (5-4)
HR ALK-Cook (8) NH-Poulet (5)
In a matchup of former teammates Gonzalez (6.2-7-1-1-2-7) bests Gerald Buckley (6.2-11-4-4-4-1) when Lowell Cook's 2 out 3 run 7th inning homer breaks a 1-1 tie. Enrique Garcia was 3-4 and stole 2 bases (4) and Cook drove in 3 (26). Andy Davis was 3-4 with a double (7) in the loss.

5/18
NH 11 ALK 7
W-Pennington (3-0) L-Sheppard (0-1)
HR ALK-Martin (9) NH-Griffin (10)
A season worst implosion for the pen as they allow 6 runs in just a single inning, turning a 7-5 lead (Bowman went 7-8-5-5-2-8) into an 11-7 loss. Andy Davis was 3-4 with a double (8) and 3 RBI's (9) and Michael Griffin homered in a 2-5 day with 3 RBI's (32). Cole Martin was 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's (25).

5/19
ALK 4 NH 2
W-Johnson (7-1) L-Pena (1-1) S-Casas (14)
HR ALK-Harrell (3) Stover (4) Cook (9) NH-Woods (5)
RJ battles through a 120 pitch 5.2-3-2-2-5-8 outing and Craxi bails out Hayden Buffy in the 7th. Harrell goes 3-5 with a solo homer.

5/20
PROV 1 ALK 0 (10)
W-Rincon (1-0) L-Hansen (1-1)
HR NONE
Keith Hansen walked in the games only run after an intentional walk to load the bases. Stan Hall was insane, going 9-3-0-0-0-13 on 111 pitches to lower his league leading ERA to 1.21. Jessie Kelley went 7.2-4-0-0-1-5 to keep the Avalanche offense in check.

GOOD GAMES-Lutz Althusser (CC) tossed a 3-hitter in a 9-0 win over Philadelphia to move to 5-5 5.67 in 10 starts this year.

SIGNINGS-Former Avalanche OF Pete Merritt announced he'd reached an agreement on a 1 year 5.4 million dollar contract with the Colts today. He hit .348-13-69 in 558 AB's for Edmonton last year.

2029 SEASON WEEK 7 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
FL POTW-Luis Antonio Gil (BRO) 15-28 2 HR's 7 RBI's (.298-5-24)
CL POTW-Jimmy Burke (CC) 11-24 4 HR's 14 RBI's (.368-4-20)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Alaska (1)
2) West Michigan (3)
3) Chicago (4)
4) Dallas (-)
5) New Hampshire (2)
OUT Pittsburgh (6)