American Baseball Association.

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 20 NOTES
SCHEDULE:

2 vs New York
OFF DAY
3 @ Las Vegas
1 vs Detroit

Tough 2nd half of the week

RESULTS:

• 8/14: NY 16 FLA 9 Martignoni 1.1 IP 11 H 10 ER
• Sid Kennealy 4-5 2 2B 3 R 3 RBI
• 8/15: FLA 8 NY 1 Camp W (7-10) 8.1 IP 8 K 1 ER Figueroa 3-4 2B HR 2 RBI
• RJ Stanton punched out 15 in a 5-2 win over Milwaukee
• St Louis top pick Ben Chase hit for the cycle last year. I had mentioned in the draft he was one of my choices at #1. His cycle brought his season line to .351-45-124
• 8/16: OFF DAY
• 8/17: LV 8 FLA 3 Harland Legge 3-3 HR RBI Loetzsch HR
• Chase L (12-9) 5 IP 10 H 5 ER
• 8/18: LV 7 FLA 2 Gallegos W (13-6) 8 IP 12 H 2 ER 8 K
• Ramirez L (12-3) 5.1 IP 8 K 7 H 5 ER Rand and Figueroa both 3-5
• Now, 6-10 this month. I guess I could/should? Have expected a bit of a backslide? I don't make excuses but the schedule hasn't been kind AND we have not pitched well at all.
• Fresh off his 500th career HR Mike Keller (MIN) has announced this will be his final season. The 37-year-olds career has spanned 2347 games and seen him hit .279 with 500 home runs and 1566 RBI's. He was the 154th overall pick in the inaugural 1990 draft. Appeared in 6 all-star games, won a silver slugger and a Division Series MVP
• 8/19: FLA 6 LV 4 Agresta W (14-6 3.86) 8 IP 7 H 4 ER Harris 3-3 2B 2 R RBI Barranco (26) Rand (10) homer
• Former Tarpon Ted Barlow ND 4.2 IP 3 ER Loetzsch HR (43)
• 8/20: DET 6 FLA 5 (11) Rand 4-6 2B HR
• Aku Madetoja PH GW HR off Brad Turner Loan Auffret 2-5 HR (30) 3 RBI (95)

AL POTW - Sergio Robles (OH) 13-24 4 HR 10 RBI (.289-40-116)
NL POTW – Chris Grider (LA) 9-21 4 HR 9 RBI(.308-25-71/.309-19-54 96 games with LA since trade)

RECORD: 2-4 (72-54)
PLACE: 2nd 10.5 GB +7.5 WC)
RUNS SCORED: 684 t-4th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 563 3rd
DEFENSE: .711 1st
OWNER MOOD: Worried

POWER RANKINGS
1) Detroit
2) Las Vegas
3) Alaska
4) San Francisco
5) Kansas City
…...
9) Florida

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 21 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
2 vs Detroit
3 vs Chicago
2@ Denver

RESULTS:

• 8/21: FLA 7 DET 6 Camp out after 2 Diagnosis Pending. Figueroa 3-5 2B HR 4 RBI (.287-20-64) Turner 3-4 2 R 1 RBI
• 8/22: FLA 8 DET 3
• Jace Camp is headed to the 10-day DL. Right now it is “shoulder tightness” and we're looking at 2-3 weeks. Youngster Chad Willoughby will be added to the roster and recalled and Jorge Longoria will be DFA
• 8/23: FLA 10 CHI 1 Ramirez W (13-3 3.64) 7 IP 3 H 9 K 0 R Hayashi 4-4 2B (19) HR (40) 5 RBI (110) Barranco 3-4 HR (27) RBI (84)
• 8/24: CHI 6 FLA 4 Agresta ND 7.1 IP 10 K 3 ER Madrid walks 4 in the 9th Nabbe error = 3 unearned
• 16th round draft pick Chris Wallace was diagnosed with an elbow issue and will undergo surgery today. The 22 year old is expected back by the start of next season
• Top pick Ismael Saldana went 3-4 with a home run today. He's hitting .338-18-52 in 58 games
• 23 year old Whitney Gilmore (SAN) tossed a 2-hitter shutting out San Francisco
• Chris Fredericks 6th inning home run made him just the 2nd player in league history to hit 600 career home runs. The 37 year old LA Storm 1B is a career .290 hitter with 2569 hits 1545 runs and 1718 RBI's. He is a 10-time all-star, 2-time gold glove winner (1B and 3B) and 4-time silver slugger. He was 3rd in the 1992 Rookie of the year voting and has twice finished runner-up for the league MVP ('99, '02) He has played less than 150 games just once in his 14-year career (1999 = 144)
• Top pitching prospect Kinnon Mendelson has been promoted from extended spring training for the seasons final few weeks to get 2-3 starts. He'll be limited to 100 pitches.
• 8/25: FLA 8 CHI 4 Martignoni W (2-2) 7 IP 4 H 4 K 1 ER Harris 3-4 HR 3 RBI Holaday 2-4 Grand Slam
• 8/26: FLA 5 DEN 2 Chad Willoughby makes his ABA debut 7 IP 7 K 4 H 2 ER W Rand 4-5 Madrid SV (6)
• Leith McNayr (SAN) went 5-5 in a 10-7 win over San Antonio
• 8/27: DEN 5 CHI 4 Chase 7 IP 4 K 3 ER ND Esparza BS (1) L (1-2) Haupt 2-4 HR 2 RBI
• Kouassi 3-4 HR 2 RBI Kirlew 8 IP 10 H 4 ER ND

AL POTW -
NL POTW-

RECORD: 5-2 (77-56)
PLACE: 2nd 10.5 GB +7.5 WC
RUNS SCORED: 732 4th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 593 2nd
DEFENSE: .709 1st
OWNER MOOD: Worried

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 22 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
1 @ Denver
OFF DAY
3 @ Milwaukee
3 vs Minnesota (DH 9/2)

RESULTS

• 8/28: DEN 3 FLA 2 Alward W (16-9) 8 IP 13 K 2 H 1 ER
• Ramirez L (13-4) 5 IP 9 K 9 H 3 ER
• Alamogordo won 15-0 behind 16 hits and a CG 3-hitter from Ricky Wentz (9-7) Ajani Foggie 4-4 2B HR 6 RBI (.301-18-63) Cletus Owry 3-5 3B 3 R 3 RBI (.295-21-87)
• Luis Campos tossed a 5-hit shutout for Clovis (3-4)
• New acquisition Zach Astor was 1-3 with a HR and is hitting .327/.527/.981 with 10 HR and 22 RBI in 19 games since being acquired. His totals on the year .347/.473/.653 17 HR 62 RBI in 69 games
• 8/29: OFF DAY
• Jeff Faulkner (Hobbs) went 7 IP 10 K 3 ER in a 6-4 loss. Nate Bosse was 3-5 HR 2 RBI to go to .351-14-54 in 61 games since being drafted.
• 8/30: FLA 10 MIN 4 Agresta W (15-6) 7 IP 10 K 2 ER Rand/Haupt 3-5
• Arturo Mendoza has had a very up and down year since his move to exclusively being a starter. Today he went 8, punched out 5 and gave up 2 ER to go to 6-10 6.23
• 8/31: MIN 6 FLA 5 (10) Haupt 3-5 (.303-30-79)
• At Rio Rancho, 19-year-old Roku Higuchi tossed a 4-hit shutout and improved his record to 6-0 2 SV 2.68 in 15 games, 5 starts on the year. In 50.1 IP he's punched out 59 to just 37 hits.
• Kinnon Mendelson has tossed 10 IP over his 2 starts, 13 H 6 K 6 BB.
  
  
  ROSTER EXPANSION & SEPTEMBER CALL-UPS
  Purchased the contracts of the following players
  Max Ramirez C – Alamogordo .282/.331/.442 15 HR 64 RBI 109 G
  Ajani Foggie 1B – Alamogordo .298/.375/.549 18 HR 64 RBI 85 G
  Dusty Barber IF – Alamogordo .317/.407/.480 10 HR 43 RBI 93 G
  
  Placed these players on the 38 man roster and then purchased the contract
  Tomiji Takimoto OF – Alamogordo .327/.409/.571 22 HR 80 RBI 103 G
  Sam Ginn RP – Alamogordo 3-0 6 SV 2.63 ERA 24 IP 10 H 23 K 14 BB 18 G
  
  Jorge Balboa was DFA'd which leaves the 38 man roster full right now.
  
  RP Juan Noriega will be recalled when the Alamogordo season comes to a close as will IF Jeremy Crimi.
  
  
• 9/1: FLA 10 MIN 7 Willoughby 5.1 IP 8 H 6 ER ND down 6-4 in the 8th offense blows up for 6 over the final 2. Ajani Foggie PH 3 R HR in the 8th Barranco 2-4 3 R 3 RBI GW 3 R HR in the 9th. Max Ramirez 1B in 1st career AB. Sam Ginn scoreless 8th.
• Seb Ziersch (NE) tossed a 3-hit shutout in a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh as those two fight for the NL East.
• Luis Mora announced the signing of a 16-year old P from Boca Chica, DR. He's a 6'5” kid who could have enormous upside.
• 9/2: GAME 1 MIL 11 FLA 1 Chase bombed 10 ER 3 IP (13-10 4.59)
• 9/2: GAME 2 FLA 5 MIL 3 Ramirez (14-4 3.72) 6 IP 8 K 3 ER Mendoza SV (1)
• While the West is still up for grabs Vegas clinched a post-season birth today.
• Our rookie league club Rio Rancho secured a wild-card spot.
  
• 9/3: MIL 6 FLA 1 Doherty spot start 6 ER 4.1 IP Ginn 3.2 scoreless 1 H 5 K

AL POTW - Tyrese Sheridan (MIN) 12-21 6 HR 13 RBI (.285-13-55)
NL POTW – Juan Burruel (SD) 12-24 HR 5 RBI (.360-29-96)

POWER RANKINGS
1) Las Vegas
2) San Francisco
3) Detroit
4) Kansas City
5) Denver
…...
7) Florida

RECORD: 3-4 (80-60)
PLACE: 2nd 10 GB +7 WC
RUNS SCORED: 764 4th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 630 4th
DEFENSE: .707 2nd
OWNER MOOD: Worried

[gehrig38]

• AL PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Sergio Robles (OH) .364-12-30 (.291-43-124)
• NL PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Dan Detray (TEX) .339-10-28 (.314-35-102)
• AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH – Rory Berg (DET) 3-0 7 SV 1.29 (6-4 37 SV 2.37)
• NL PITCHER OF THE MONTH – Mike Kelly (SF) 3-1 8 SV 1.62 (11-4 37 SV 2.15)
• AL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH – Makata Hayashi (FLA) .274-7-26 (.257-41-115)
• NL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH – Solange Gandarei (SAN) .308-0-7 (.227-10-47)

• Hobbs RHP Hiroshige Hirai took home FSL Pitcher of the month honors 4-1 8 SV 15 K 15.1 IP
• Rio Rancho OF Zach Astor hit .324-11-26 in 24 games to take home POTM honors (.327-10-22)
• Rio Rancho SP Roku Higuchi went 5-0 1.24 to take home the leagues Pitcher of the Month

• Makata Hayashi has had a monster 2nd half so far. Since July 1st He's hitting .299 with 20 HR and 57 RBI in just 55 games. He snuck into the RBI lead discussion and is knocking on the door of the HR chart too. The main problem is the .394 point difference in OPS vs RH (1.002) and LH (.708). He was hitting .180/.276/.420 on May 1st with 7 HR and 18 RBI. Today he's at .257/.353/.563 with 41 HR and 115 RBI. In his last 98 games, he has 34 HR and 97 RBI.
• Domenic Loetzsch appears to be headed for consecutive Hank Aaron awards.
• RJ Stanton looks like he's going to crush the single-season K record. Last year he had 305 in 201.1 IP this year he's at 307 on September 1st in just 190 IP.
• Winton Alward is shooting for his 3rd 300 K season and already has his 7th season of 283+ Ks.
• Andy Messana is just 3 wins shy of Nate Walkers 23 win total from 1995. In the leagues 16 years, there have been a TOTAL of 14 20 win seasons. That's a GRAND TOTAL.

The NL East is trying hard not to be an embarrassment as the Miners have gotten within 4 games of a .500 record. They'll slug it out with the Minutemen.
KC and Texas are the central final 2 barring a miracle and the Bears have a magic # of 13 on the 1st of the month. Portland just did a 10 game nosedive to bring them back to the Wild Card pack at the same time giving the division title to a 9-1 San Francisco run.



September 1st and Vegas has a magic # of 9. Incredible season. Our August swoon (13-15) has pretty much given Detroit the East and relegated us to a potential play in the game. I'll spend the month being wishy-washy about who will pitch that game and try like hell to wrap up a spot early enough to align the rotation if possible.
Chicago, Memphis, and Ohio all still alive in the Central but it looks like just one will get to the postseason and it will be the division winner.

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 23 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
1 @ Milwaukee
3 vs Ohio
3 @ Memphis

RESULTS:

• 9/4: MIL 5 FLA 3 Agresta L (15-7 3.90) 5 ER 6.2 IP Rand 3-5 HR RBI
• 9/5: FLA 6 OH 5 Martignoni 6 IP 2 ER ND Madrid BS (7) W (7-5)
• RJ Stanton (CHI) punched out 15, again, in a 7-2 win over New York. He's 13-10 3.71 with 322 punchouts in 199 IP. It is his 4th 15+ K game this year and his 18th 10+ K game.
• San Francisco punched it's 2006 playoff ticket by clinching a postseason berth.
• 9/6: OH 4 FLA 1 Willoughby L (1-1) 6.1 IP 2 H 7 K
• Jace Camp has been activated off the DL and Willoughby will move into a long relief role for the seasons final weeks. Camp will start tomorrow.
• Arturo Mendoza went 8 IP 5 K 5 H and 1 ER for the win (7-10 5.93)
• Mike Carpenter pitched Hobbs to a 14-0 win giving up 6 hits and punching out 10 in a CG SHO. He's 5-3 4.71. Nate Bosse went 2-4 2 HR 3 RBI to continue his outstanding season. He's hitting .349-17-61 in 67 games.
• 9/7: FLA 5 OH 4 Camp 6 IP 2 H 1 K 6 BB 1 ER ND Ginn W (1-0) Madrid SV (7) Hayashi 43rd HR
• LHP Kody Pollock finished the AA season with a CG win (5-2 3.73) punching out 7 in a 5-1 victory. His final totals in AA this year were 14-7 4.30 in 28 starts 180 IP 200 H 93 K and, for us he was 5-2 3.73 in 60.1 IP giving up 60 H 40 K 13 BB over 8 starts. BTW this was his 23rd birthday. Looks like he will be physically and mentally ready to make the jump to AAA next year.
• Rio Rancho won game 1 of the rookie league playoffs
• Bosse went 3-4 2B HR RBI to finish the regular season at .355-18-62. The 5th rounder will not get called up to Farmington as Hobbs has clinched a postseason spot and is trying to win their division.
• San Francisco ace Mike Lloyd tossed a no-hitter vs Oklahoma today to run his record to 15-3 2.86. He punched out 10.
• Ismael Saldana had a fantastic half season at Clovis (.312/.422/.641) and earned a week at Alamogordo as the season winds down.
• 9/8: MEM 6 FLA 5 Eric Hecht HR (45) RBI (121)
• Chase L (13-11 5.2 IP 6 H 6 ER
• 9/9: MEM 8 FLA 1 1 run on 14 hits, 24 LOB. Ramirez L (14-5) 5 IP 6 H 6 ER
• Chris Pennington 2-3 2 HR 3 RBI (.256-42-109) Chris Kantor W (13-12) 7.2 IP 11 H 1 ER 6 K
• Saldana went 3-5 2B HR 3 R RBI in his 1st AAA game.
• 9/10: FLA 5 MEM 1 Agresta W (16-7) 8 IP 9 K 8 H 1 ER
• Ismael Saldana goes 3-4 HR and RBI in his 2nd game. Juan Bonilla tossed a CG 4 hitter giving up 2 in a 9-2 win.
• SS Hobbs clinched their division and will go to the SS playoffs.

AL POTW - Juan Casatillo (DEN) 15-28 4 HR 9 RBI (.230-29-76)
NL POTW – Luis Andrade (PIT) 12-27 2 HR 8 RBI (.291-29-91)

• Alamogordo OF Jim Shelley (acquired from Memphis last December) took home IL POTW honors going 10-19 5 HR 14 RBI and is capping off a monster year .282-32-105 at AAA.
• Nate Bosse took home FSL POTW honors going 12-22 5 HR 10 RBI and is at .358-19-66 at short season Hobbs.

RECORD: 3-4 (83-64)
PLACE: 2nd 12 GB +5 WC
RUNS SCORED: 790 4th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 663 3rd
DEFENSE: .709 2nd
OWNER MOOD: Worried

POWER RANKINGS
1) Las Vegas
2) Detroit
3) San Francisco
4) Kansas City
5) Alaska
…....
7) Florida

[gehrig38]

Other races pic here
The AL Central is going to be fun these last 10 days and CANEastNL east team get to .500? Pittsburgh and New England are trying to make it interesting.

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 24 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
OFF DAY
3 vs Phoenix
3 vs Brooklyn

RESULTS:

• 9/11: OFF DAY
• 9/12: PHX 5 FLA 4 Camp ND 7 IP 2 ER Allen BS (2) Madrid L (7-6)
• 9/13: PHX 11 FLA 8 (11) Madrid BS (8) Turner L (0-4) 3 BB 1 H 3 ER 1.2 IP Chase 5 IP 10 H 6 ER Takimoto 1st ABA HR
• Rio Rancho was knocked out in the 2nd round of the Rookie League Playoffs.
• Hobbs has advanced
• Denver has gone 26-14 and 10-2 in their last 12 and the WC is officially a race as they have closed the gap to 3.
• 9/14: FLA 3 PHX 1 Ramirez W (15-5 3.84) 6 IP 8 K 5 H 1 ER Ginn SV (1)
• Denver had Alward going today but Vegas got to him for 4 in 5 IP and won 7-3. He did punch out 11 more to give him 320 in 220 innings.
• San Francisco suffered a huge blow today as 3B Andy Lee suffered a fractured thumb and will miss the next 4 weeks. He was hitting .290-28-94
• Detroit clinched their 15th AL East pennant today.
• 9/15: BRK 6 FLA 5 Haupt 3-3 leadoff HR (31) pen blows 8th inning lead. Jim Shelley 1st ABA HR.
• Gabe Clark 2-4 HR RBI (.308-45-116)
• 9/16: FLA 7 BRK 6 (10) Madrid BS (9) Martignoni 6.1 IP 6 H 1 ER ND

TARPONS MAKE GINN CLOSER FOR SEASONS FINAL WEEKS
Tarpons Manager Kevin Jackson told reporters on the heels of their 7-6 win extra-inning win on Saturday that Rookie Sam Ginn would assume the role of closer for the remainder of the year.
Former closer Juan Madrid blew his 9th save of the season while Ginn has tossed 8 scoreless innings yielding just 2 hits and punching out 13 batters.
A reporter asked Jackson about former closer and current Aces closer Joaquin Benoit who got his 39th save recently at which point Jackson stared at the beat writer and proceeded to walk off the podium, ending the press conference

• Texas Closer Bobby Patterson (3-15 34 SV) was diagnosed with a torn UCL and will be out for at least the next 10 months. .
  
  
• 9/17: BRK 4 FLA 3 Haupt 4-5 2 2B 2 R SB (20)
• Ragan W (10-9 4.00) 7 IP 8 H 7 K 2 ER Dan Goodman 2-4 2 HR 3 RBI (.316-27-97)

AL POTW - Ernesto Molina (DEN) 9-17 3 HR 6 RBI (.278-31-81)
NL POTW – Jeff Boles (OK) 8-21 7 HR 15 RBI (.274-54-127)

RECORD: 2-4 (85-68)
PLACE: 2nd 12 GB +2 WC
RUNS SCORED: 820 5th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 696 3rd
DEFENSE: .707 2nd
OWNER MOOD: Worried

POWER RANKINGS
1) San Francisco
2) Las Vegas
3) Detroit
4) Denver
5) Ohio
…...
8) Florida

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 25 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
3 @ Alaska
3 vs St Louis
OFF DAY

The three biggest games of the year starting today. We are tied with Alaska, as you can see. We end with 6 straight vs 2 last place clubs so these three days are crucial.





RESULTS:

1. 9/18: ALK 3 FLA 2 (11) Chase 9 IP 6 K 6 H 2 ER Ginn L (1-1) 1 IP 3 H 2 BB 1 ER Offense manages just 5 hits and punches out 17 times leaving 17 on base.
2. Alaska pen throws 5 scoreless
3. Denver loses so we remain 2 up.
4. New England and the Miners both win so NL East still at 1 game and the Miners are now just 1 game below .500.
5. Texas and Portland both lose, San Antonio and Oklahoma both win. NL Wild Card is San Antonio 2.5 GB Oklahoma 3.5 GB for the final spot, Texas up .5 on San Antonio.
6. AL Central, Memphis and Chicago won, Ohio lost, Memphis +1 on both.
7. Jeff Boles has 6 home runs in the past 4 days to run his season total to 56. There have been 12 total 60 home run seasons by 9 different players. The single-season record is 68 set in 1993 by Eric Crouch
8. 9/19: FLA 3 ALK 1 Nate Ramirez came up huge 6 IP 2 H 9 K 16-5 3.77 Ginn SV (2) Barranco 3-4 RBI (.281-28-90) Max Ramirez 1st ABA HR.
9. We are tied with Alaska now and Denver won staying 2 back of both.
10. Pittsburgh lost and the Minutemen won, NL East is tied at 76-78
11. New England beat San Diego on a CG 3-hit shutout by Pat Strickler (11-11 4.51)

SAN FRANCISCO LOSES ACE LLOYD
The Bears received devastating news as ace Mike Lloyd was diagnosed with a torn UCL and will undergo Tommy John surgery today. He will be sidelined for the next 10-12 months. He finishes the season 16-3 2.83 with 246 strikeouts. The ERA and K's are both league-leading as of now.

• 9/20: ALK 9 FLA 0 Omar Samedi W (16-6 3.62) 7 IP 11 K 4 H
• Agresta 5 IP 9 H 6 ER L (16-8 4.03)
• Alaska moves a game up while Denver loses staying 2 back.
• New England and Pittsburgh both won, they are tied at 77-78.
• 9/21: FLA 8 STL 3 3-3 game into the 8th Makata Hayashi hits his 44th homer, a 3 run shot, to break the tie. Haupt 3-5 2B (35) 2 RBI (88) Rodelo 3-4 Barranco 2 2B (33) Noriega tossed 3 innings giving up just 1 hit and punching out 7 to get it to the 8th. Madrid wins it (8-6)
• Alaska and Denver both win. So we're 1 back of the Kodiaks and still 2 up on Denver with 5 to play. The Miners win to move to 78-79 taking a .5 game lead on idle New England.
• Chicago and Memphis are tied with 5 to play.
• NL Wildcard is Portland in the 2 slot with San Antonio -1.5 and Oklahoma -2.5 San Antonio has 7 games left, Portland 6 and Oklahoma 5
• Kansas City clinches its first NL Central title since 1993. The Spartans won that division the leagues first 4 seasons and have not returned to the playoffs again until this year.
• Short Season Hobbs was eliminated from postseason play today.
• 9/22: FLA 6 STL 2 Camp 7.1 IP 8 H 7 K 2 ER W (8-10 3.73) Hayashi 2-3 2B (29) HR (45) 4 RBI (132) Ginn scoreless 9th.
• Alaska and Denver both lose. Tied now with the Kodiaks and Denver is now 3 out. Our magic number, as is Alaska, sits at 2.
• Pittsburgh won to become the NL East first .500 club since the seasons 2nd day. New England won as well and trails by a ½ game
• Texas and Portland both lost, San Antonio and Oklahoma both won. Portland leads the Broncos by ½ game and Oklahoma by 1.5
• Eric Hecht appears to have clinched the AL Batting title and will deny Domenic Loetzsch a 2nd consecutive triple crown.
• Chicago wins behind a 14 punchout CG game 2-hit shutout in an 11-0 victory to hold onto the AL Central lead.
• 9/23: FLA 6 STL 0 Geoff Lockharts 1 out 8th inning single broke up Jeff Chases' no-hit bid. Chase went the distance on a 1-hitter, striking out 7 to move to 14-11 4.56 Mike Haupts PH 3 run homer was followed by Jim Shelley's 2nd HR of the day breaking open 2-0 game.
• Our magic # is 1 heading into the off day...
• Luis Acevado (BRK) tossed a 7 hit shutout to beat Alaska 1-0 and fanned 11.
• 9/24: OFF DAY
• Just one game on the docket, Portland, trailing San Antonio by a ½ game, will play the Broncos in Portland in a crucial Wild Card matchup.

AL POTW - Jahiem Kouassi (DEN) 12-21 4 HR 6 RBI (.308-55-123)
NL POTW – Maxence Brun (OK) 10-17 3 HR 6 RBI (.238-37-92)

RECORD: 4-2 (89-70)
PLACE: 2nd 13 GB +3 WC
RUNS SCORED: 845 5th
RUNS GIVEN UP: 714 3rd
DEFENSE: .708 2nd
OWNER MOOD: Worried

POWER RANKINGS
1) Las Vegas
2) Detroit
3) San Francisco
4) Florida
5) Denver

[gehrig38]

SUBJECT: WEEK 26 NOTES
SCHEDULE:
3 @ New York

SEASON END

RACES IN THE FINAL WEEK



Just 3 races left. Barring catastrophe we will slip in, which seems insane given where we were on August 1st. The trade definitely had a major impact and I'm ready to take full responsibility should it actually fall apart.
I'd do it all again though.
In the National League, it will be intriguing The wild card will be an awesome fight to the finish simply because everyone but Oklahoma plays one of the 5 teams in the mix.

RESULTS:

• 9/25: NY 4 FLA 3 Sid Kennedy hit a 2 out walk off double off rookie Sam Ginn (1-2) to break a 3-3 tie. Mike Loree got a ND but spun 7 dominant innings punching out 8 allowing 4 hits and just a single run.
• Juan Barranco went 2-3 HR 3 RBI accounting for all the offense. He's hitting .286-30-96 heading into the seasons final 2 days.

9/26: NY 8 FLA 3 Agresta L (16-9) 5 IP 7 H 6 ER
Chicago's Dwain Milazzo tossed a 4 hitter in a 5-0 win over Milwaukee to clinch the AL Central for the Hitmen.
Alaska won, thus clinching a wild card spot. Denver won, and is 1 GB with 1 to play.
Pittsburgh lost and New England won, they are separated by a single game.
Portland won, Texas and San Antonio both lost. Portland and Texas are tied for the WC, and the Broncos are 1 game back.
Portland and Texas will play the seasons final game at Portland, Joe Van Kirk (11-12 4.90) will go for the Lancers against Isoroku Yamabe (14-9 4.47)
San Antonio will send Shamar Scippio (12-14 5.08) against Tim Bournes (14-8 3.94)

[gehrig38]

TARPONS FINISH AMAZING TURNAROUND WITH WILDCARD CLINCHING WIN IN SEASONS FINAL GAME
Some things you just cannot dream up. Last winter the baseball world was abuzz as Tarpons GM Gehrig Schilling had just made a blockbuster trade, acquiring star centerfielder Mike Haupt in what many said was a gross overpayment of 'assets'.
Today Mike Haupt lined a 3-0 fastball from Punishers starter Griff Honeyford into the centerfield bleachers for what would end up being a game winning 2 run home run.
The massive throng of traveling 'Fisherman' at Punishers ballpark made it sound like a home game in front of the packed house instead of the 21614 fans who showed up.
The Tarpons were coming off an ABA record 114 loss season and while many expected a furious winter of moves to result in a much improved team, no one in any publication anywhere had them close, much less making the ABA post season.
Their 42 game turnaround is the largest, by a wide margin, in ABA history. Based on Alaska's season edge in their matchup the Tarpon club will head to Anchorage from New York tonight for the off day tomorrow.
No word yet on who manager Kevin Jackson will give the ball to but it appears the choice will come down to Jeff Chase (14-11 4.56) and youngster Nate Ramirez (16-5 3.81). Both will have ample rest.
The most pressing concern is actually on the other end of the pitching staff where Rookie Sam Ginn is not eligible for the post season roster. It appears Juan Madrid will take on the job of closing, which he'd held until his September “demotion” to the setup role.

[gehrig38]

MINERS WIN NL EAST ON WALK OFF
Pittsburgh Miners shortstop Luis Andrades 2 out 9th inning single off Missions reliever Brad Van Ness gave the Miners a 5-4 win, an 81-81 season ending record that was good enough to outlast the Minutemen of New England by a single game. Down 4-1 in the 7th the Miners rallied to tie the game before walking it off in front of a hometown crowd of 39, 317

LANCERS BEAT COWBOYS ON DRAMATIC PH HOMER
Portland Lancer 1B Josh Barboni hit a 0-2 fastball off Texas reliever Eddie Alford into the left-field bleachers to give the Lancers a season ending, and wildcard winning 5-3 win over the Texas Cowboys. The win will mean Portland players don't have to board a plane, but then again neither do the Cowboys as both teams will go at it one more time in the National League Wild Card play-in game tomorrow afternoon in Portland Oregon.
The result of the game might not even be the biggest news of the day. Texas star SS Chi-ming-Xie (.319-25-97) was injured in a collision on the bases in the 6th inning and as of yet, there is no word on his availability for the wild-card game.

Word out of Portland is the Xie suffered a grade 2 strain of his left hamstring and will be unavailable for the rest of the 2006 post season.

SEASON-ENDING NEWS
Eric Hecht (MEM) .339 took home the AL Batting Title. The 28-year-olds 1st and Washington Jets superstar Juan Burruel won the NL title with a career-high .353 average. This is his 2nd NL title after winning it in 2003 (.337).

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TARPONS ANNOUNCE PLAYOFF ROSTER
The Tarpons have announced 6 moves ahead of tomorrow play-in game. Rookie Chad Willoughby. IF Jeremy Crimi and veteran Luciano Martignoni were removed from the roster and Catcher Bryan Holaday and IF Ajani Foggie and reliever Jorge Esparza were added.

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NL WILD CARD
Texas at Portland
Toshiyoshi Nakata (7-06 6.41) vs Ziven Eliseikin (11-10 4.79)
The game was over in the 1st. Portland scored 5 times on 2 doubles and 2 home runs en route to an 8-2 victory. They move on to face San Francisco in the Division Series.

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• Florida at Alaska
• Nate Ramirez (16-5 3.81) vs Jonathan Watkins (13-7 4.65)
• This is a 1 game series so it comes down to 9 innings and for us it is about being ahead before the 7th. The Kodiak bullpen is the best in the league led by Closer Kazuhisa Makita and his 36 saves and 2.19 ERA. Chris Hunt (2.33) Tim Autry (2.29) Sergio Vargas (3.69) and Evan Scribner (3.38) make up the gang down there. Their offense is fueled by Catcher Giobbe Funicello (.311-29-77).
• They'll go with Jonathon Watkins even though Omari Samedi (17-6 3.49) could go on 3 days rest.
• It's simple, I need Ramirez to deal and we need to score earl

y.

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RAMIREZ, TARPONS, HEADED TO ALDS

• Nate Ramirez was dominant over 7 innings yielding just 4 hits and striking out 9 and veteran catcher Bryan Holaday hit a game tying solo HR in the 7th off Alaska starter Jonathan Watkins (7 IP 4 K 5 H 1 ER).
• The Tarpons would then stun the home crowd as the offense unloaded on Kodiak Closer Kazuhisa Makita for 4 runs before he recorded his 1st out in the 8th.
• Brad Turner would get the games final 6 outs and the cinderella story of this Tarpon team would now be heading to the ALDS to face the ABA's best in 107 win Las Vegas.

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NLDS
DIVISION SERIES
Portland Lancers vs San Francisco Bears

• 8-7 season series in favor of SF
• Ranks
• Home Records
• Portland 47-34 San Francisco 53-28
• Road Records
• Portland 38-43 San Francisco 49-32
• Runs Scored
• Portland 985 1st San Francisco 879 4th
• Runs Given Up
• Portland 986 12th San Francisco 685 1st
  
• The leagues best offense vs the leagues best staff.
• On the Portland side Chris Van Wagner (.395/.490/.791 4 HR 7 RBI) and Rob Anderson (.375/.474/.708 4 HR 18 RBI) are the guys the Bears have not been able to quiet this year.
• Isoroku Yamabe (2-0 2.89 35 K 19 H 28 IP) has been able to tame Vegas in 4 starts.
• For San Francisco watch out for Chris Witbeck (.391/.500/1.087 5 HR 11 RBI) and Joe Wendt (.320/.382/.740 5 HR 12 RBI)
• On the mound Chris Edge is 2-1 1.52 over 23.2 IP.

Pittsburgh Miners vs Kansas City Spartans

• Kansas City went 11-4 vs the Miners
• Home Records
• KC 54-27 PIT 45-36
• Road Records
• KC 38-43 PIT 36-45
• Runs Scored
• KC 856 6th PIT 853 7th
• Runs Given Up
• KC 762 2nd PIT 848 5th
• Doug Schneider (.353/.397/.647 4 HR 14 RBI) and Chris Wright (.350/.527/.700 4 HR 12 RBI) and Chris Letts (5 HR 16 RBI) have driven KC vs Pittsburgh pitching
• Ben Paulsen 2-0 1.89 in 19 IP
• Josh Gilliand (5 HR 14 RBI) CJ Reisner (4 HR 17 RBI) have been the main cogs for Pittsburgh
• No Miner with more than 15 IP vs KC has an ERA below 4.08 (Jamie Watkins 1-1 4.08 22 K 17.2 IP)

ALDS

Chicago Hitmen vs Detroit Phantom

• Detroit was 8-4 vs Chicago this year
• Home Records
• CHI 52-29 DET 54-27
• Road Records
• CHI 34-47 DET 48-33
• Runs Scored
• CHI 805 9th DET 946 3rd
• Runs Given Up
• CHI 776 5th DET 736 3rd
• P/1B Dwain Milazo hit /385/.407/.692 in 26 AB's 1 HR 4 RBI but was pounded on the mound 0-3 6.98. He's the game 4 starter
• RJ Stanton, the game 1 starter was 2-0 1.06 with 28 punchouts in 17 IP.
• Loan Auffret led the way for Detroit going .333/.366/.615 with 3 HR 7 RBI
• On the mound former Hitmen starter Jim Brooks was 2-1 2.77 with 36 K's in 26 innings vs his former team.

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Las Vegas Aces vs Florida Tarpon
Series was 6-6
Home Records
LV 60-21 FLA 55-26
Road Records
LV 47-34 FLA 35-46
Runs Scored
LV 1001 1st FLA 854 7th
Runs Allowed
LV 750 4th FLA 727 2nd

• Domenic Loetzsch was .389/.488/.944 with 6 HR 11 RBI Juan Guerra was .326-2-,6
• On the mound Juan Gallegos (game 4 starter) was 2-1 with a 4.42 and Joe Weiss (Game 2 starter) was 1-1 3.15
• Juan Barranco hit .348/.444/.804 with 5 HR 11 RBI while Jon Harris hit .341/.426/.415
• Game 1 will feature former Tarpon Ted Barlow (4.2 IP 3 ER) vs Tim Agresta 2-0 5.79 in 14 innings. Jace Camp was 1-0 1.50 in 12 innings.
• Former Tarpon closer Juaquin Benoit is lurking in their pen.

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GAME 1
Ted Barlow (11-9 3.62) vs Tim Agresta (16-9 4.18)
Ian Chaffee got things going with a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st
Josh Klatt ties the game with his own solo HR in the top of the 4th but Vegas answers with 3 in the bottom half.
Juan Guerra 2 out bases loaded single breaks it open in the 6th.
Domenic Loetzschi homers and Chaffee hits another one later and the rout was on.
Barlow punched out 9 in 7.2 IP and they managed 17 hits in a 13-3 rout

• Deroit SP Jim Brooks threw 7 dominant innings punching out 10 to beat RJ Stanton 5-2 and take a 1-0 lead.
• Portland stunned everyone by jumping on Bears starter Chris Edge for 4 in the 1st in a shocking 10-4 drubbing of San Francisco on their home turf
• Jamie Watkins stifled KC to just 5 hits over 7 strong innings and Al Alburquerque punched out 3 in the final 2 frames as the Miners beat KC 2-1.

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GAME 2
Juan Gallegos (16-8 4.24) vs Jace Camp (8-10 3.73)
2 hitters into the game Jace Camp is out. An unknown elbow issue brings Jorge Esparza in. Neil Walker promptly homers on the 1st pitch in what would end up a 3-3 day with 2 homers and 5 RBI's.
In a, stunning turn the offense found a way to rally for 3 in the 9th to tie it 7-7!
In what felt like some sort of nightmare that played out in slo-motion defensive replacement Robbie Turner booted a routine grounder with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th to end I 8-7

• A late rally gave Pittsburgh a 9-7 win and 2-0 lead heading home for game 3
• Chris Mattingly went 8.2 shutout innings striking out 10 to give Detroit a 2-0 series lead
• An absolute stunner in San Francisco. Portland took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of 9 and Joe Wendt hits a 2 out full count game tying 2 run homer. 2 pitches later Juan Mercado hit a walk-off to give San Francisco a stunning come from behind win and avert what would have been an enormous sequence of events that would have put underdog Portland up 2-0

TARPONS DL CAMP, ACTIVATE MARTIGNONI FOR ALDS
Jace Camp has an abdominal issue that will keep him out for the rest of the series. He has been DL'd so he will not be available until after the ALCS if we get that far. Lefty Luca Martignoni has been put on the playoff roster to give us a 4th starter, lefty out of the bullpen.

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GAME 3
Jeff Chase (14-11 4.56) vs Tousei Sato (15-6 4.39)
Domenic Loetzsch sac fly gets the Aces on the board in the 1st and an Ian Chaffee RBI single makes it 2-0 in the 2nd.
Chaffee then hits a 2 run homer in a 5 run 5th to blow it open. TJ Rand breaks up the no-hitter in the 6th and Juan Barranco drives in 2 before a Harris 3B makes it 8-4.
In the 8th we fail to score in an 8-4 game with 1st and 3rd 0 outs. Their pen cleans it up and the game ends that way, 8-4.
Neil Walker took home series MVP honors going 7-12 with 2 HR and 6 RBI although in my opinion Ian Chaffee was the no doubt MVP of this one. Hitting 3 and driving in 7.

• Pittsburgh held off a 9th inning rally and a 3 hit 3 RBI day by Spartan Yoenis Cespedes to sweep KC 3 games to 0 in a 5-4 win.
• And from the bittersweet department Miners SS Luis Andrade took home series MVP honors going 6-10 with 2 HR and 4 RBI but was carted off the field after a 1st inning collision on the basepaths. No word on the severity.
• 1B Joe Wendt brought the house down again. Hitting a 2 out full count 3 run homer in the bottom of the 8th of a 4-4 game to propel the Bears to a 7-4 win and a 2-1 series lead.
• Chicago manages to enter the 9th up 5-4 before Series MVP Qi-Chao Koo drills a 2 out 2 strike walk off 2 run home run to give the Phantoms a 6-5 win and a 3-0 series sweep. Detroit will head to Vegas for the ALCS.

GAME 4
Bears of Juan Mercado took home series MVP honors after going 7-17 with 2 HR and 3 RBI as the Bears routed Portland 12-7 in game 2. Ian Desmon homered twice and drove in 2.
San Francisco heads to Pittsburgh for the NLCS.