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

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2039 Awards

Gold Gloves

Pitcher: Rhys England (Melbourne Aces)
Catcher: Russell Saunders (Cairns Crocs)
First Baseman: Matthew Tanner (Melbourne Aces)
Second Baseman: Lou Stapleton (Newcastle Roos)
Third Baseman: Brock Wakely (Auckland Metros)
Shortstop: Burt Bargenquast (Wellington Fury)
Left Fielder: Tommy Weichard (Auckland Metros)
Center Fielder: Harry Hancock (Auckland Metros)
Right Fielder: Bailey Pugsley (Newcastle Roos)

Rookie of the Year

25 y/o Venom 2B Alan Cobb was never in doubt for this award. After a short, uninspiring stint in the majors at the backend of 2038, Cobb took charge in 2039, looking very assured at the plate. While he had a wide personal strike zone, Cobb was also very hard to whiff, only striking out 29 times in 446 plate appearances. His stat-line for the year was: .358/.387/.464. He had 149 hits from 416ABs, hitting 39 doubles, 1 triple and 2HR. He drew only 20 walks, and scored 58 runs. His WAR was 3.7, his VORP 38.8.

23 y/o Thunder 1B/DH Dean Warner (.288/.348/.426, 11HR) came 2nd, while 27 y/o Fury DH Vinnie Widdison (.261/.306/.404, 15HR) finished 3rd.

Skipper of the Year

1st-year big-league manager Nigel Lumby. In leading the Sluggers to a 100-62 regular season record, a tight-fought division finals victory and a heart-breaking 6-game Championship loss, Lumby enjoyed a season the like of which might not be seen again for some time.

Accepting the award, Lumby was honest and humble in appraising his own performance: “I don’t know if I deserve this honour. It’s been an amazing season, for sure, but I don’t think I had all that much to do with it. My biggest hope now is that Whangarei doesn’t become known as a one-hit wonder who dominated the spotlight for a season, then sank back into the depths of obscurity.”

Hurler of the Year

There was no clear favourite for this award, and no agreed consensus on who it should go to. The one thing the experts did agree on, however, was that Rowan Kalman, despite his league best Ks, K/9, K/BB, FIP and pitcher’s WAR, his 2nd best WHIP, and his 3rd best ERA, wouldn’t win it thanks to too few notches in the win column.

Bradley Lundgren, who led the league in wins but no other category, and whose WAR was only 4.3, won it in the end. He certainly wasn’t an unpopular choice, both amongst fans and media, and was gracious enough to heap praise on the other pitchers who’d made the final ballot, as well as some of the other consistently good performers.

Closer Axel Kent of the Bandits (8-1, 42 saves, 2.45 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 53 Ks in 73.1 IP) came 2nd. The Thunder’s Luigi Kinnear (14-7, 2.79 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 191 Ks in 219.0 IP) was 3rd on the final ballot.

Slugger of the Year

After the HotY announcement, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that the Sluggers would complete a skipper-hurler-slugger sweep in 2039. And if anybody else but Alistair Mildren won it, there would likely be a fan riot.

Fortunately, Mildren won it easy. 2039 was the 1st time he’d won the SotY after finishing in 3rd place the previous 2 seasons. In a side-related note, pointed out by the award’s presenter, Mildren hadn’t missed a regular season game for 7 years.

Richard Lewis finished 2nd, while Young-tae Lee came 3rd.

All the post-awards questions to Mildren, Lewis, Lumby, Lundgren, and any other Sluggers at the Awards Dinner related to whether Mildren and Lewis would be Sluggers in 2040. Nobody was forthcoming with any answers.

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2039 Career Leaderboards

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Offseason

2039 Notes

ERA rose to 4.24, the 2nd highest it had ever been, while batting average sat steady at .264, the mark reached in both the previous seasons.

League News

Notable Club Happenings

Cairns Crocs: The Crocs pulled the pin on their GM, skipper and bench coach. Both GM and manager had only lasted 1 season in their jobs.

Christchurch Cowboys: Christchurch were in the hunt for a new GM, after not renewing the contract of 4-year veteran Ian Graham.

Hobart Prospects: Brody Kent, who’d skippered the team for the last 7 seasons, got fired. His best season at the Prospects had been an 81-81 effort in 2035. While not fired, Hobart’s GM didn’t get his contract renewed, and the team was also on the hunt for a new bench coach and a new hitting coach.

Perth Heat: Perth’s GM retired.

Sydney Blue Sox: The Blue Sox parted ways with their manager, elevating 4-time Skipper of the Year Gareth Torley into the role.

Wellington Fury: Sterling Pryor’s move to hire Clint Blenkhorn as interim manager paid off, with Fury owner Jeremy Wilcox approving a 3-year extension for Blenkhorn, who went 48-44 after taking the reins.

Notable Free Agent Signings/Player Contract Extensions

28 Mar: The Fury bought out 23 y/o Adrian McHugh’s (.240/.299/.392, 32HR) arbitration years.

29 Mar: Adelaide bought out 30 y/o Terry Henderson’s arbitration years on what they hoped was an affordable 3-year deal. Late-bloomer Henderson (.248/.343/.427, 78HR), who’d hit 31HR in 2039, was grinning from ear-to-ear at the presser.

29 Mar: Cairns finalized a 4-year deal with 27 y/o Russell Saunders (.245/.337/.404, 39HR) that would see him a Croc for the rest of his arbitration years and possibly into the 1st year of his free agency eligibility.

29 Mar: 28 y/o Patrick Dempster (.268/.349/.439, 55HR) signed a 4-year extension with Christchurch, thus enabling the Cowboys to make sure they would never need to offer him arbitration.

5 Apr: Perth bought out Roland ‘Hardrock’ Matheson’s (.300/.324/.412, 19HR) arbitration years with a 4-year deal. The 23 y/o CF already had over 3 years of major league service time. In 2039 he hit in 20 or more games twice.

5 Apr: 23 y/o Young-tae Lee (.286/.388/.459, 62HR), who also had over 3 years of major league service time, as well as being a candidate for SotY in 2039, signed a 4-year deal with the Roos, thus ensuring he would never need to go through the arbitration process.

5 May: This year’s free agents included:

31 y/o Alistair Mildren
27 y/o Richard Lewis
29 y/o Bill Bransington
29 y/o Logan Neilson
33 y/o Dylan Cully
30 y/o Haechen Lee
28 y/o Gary Eichele
33 y/o Rex Hagerty
32 y/o Russell Puckeridge
35 y/o Arnold Tipping
26 y/o Burt Bargenquast
31 y/o Lou Stapleton
27 y/o Mike Wurfel
27 y/o Cain Blenkhorn
31 y/o Bill Buffey
35 y/o Vaughan Lockrey
29 y/o Jarod Atkins
35 y/o Alan Neill
27 y/o Henry Gosselin
30 y/o Jerry Meehan
28 y/o Ian Naismith
39 y/o Sugimoto Okubo
30 y/o Gavin Jiang
29 y/o Burt Lipinski
35 y/o Brandon Shearer
32 y/o Bruce Acheson
35 y/o Mario Martinez
37 y/o Brendon Vernon
36 y/o Luigi Crabtree
39 y/o Neil Okolita
32 y/o Kade DeJong

While the big talking points remained Mildren and Lewis, the analysis shows talked plenty about Bransington too, and whether he was the type of player who could flourish as a leader in a team. And, according to the rumour mill, every team in the competition wanted Dylan Cully.

Thanks to the aforementioned Mildren and Lewis, the Sluggers were the biggest losers on the WAR counter, giving up a total of 20.2 WAR (19.4 of that between those 2 players). The Roos were also big losers, shedding 15.1 WAR. Lou Stapleton, who’d signed a minor league contract with them during 2039 spring training, thus being paid league minimum once he made the top 25, had racked up a handy 5.2 WAR during a career season, and was hoping that might translate to a decent contract elsewhere.

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14 May: Ian Naismith (27-32, 191 sv, 2.89 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) re-signed with the Fury for 2 years.

15 May: The Cowboys lured Rex Hagerty (.248/.333/.421, 185HR) into the corral on a 2-year deal.

16 May: The Sluggers were all smiles, presenting Dylan Cully (153-95, 3.10 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 1.13 WHIP) to the media. He’d signed for 4 years, and while some doubted if he’d still be as good in 2043 at 37 years of age as he had been in 2039 at 33 years of age, the announcement did much to buoy fans still depressed that Mildren and Lewis hadn’t re-signed.

19 May: The Heat snared Arnold Tipping (.287/.356/.446, 171HR) with a 2-year offer.

19 May: Bandits’ fans were justifiably excited at the news Bill Bransington (.283/.393/.520, 194HR) had signed for 6 years. How the 2-time SotY would cope with the extra responsibility and expectation being a free agent brought remained to be seen.

23 May: Another former Roo, Mike Wurfel (.290/.346/.401, 40HR), who’d only managed half a season playing time over each of the last 2 seasons, signed for 6 years with the Metros.

25 May: Gary Eichele (64-56, 3.85 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) was Fury-bound, signing with the NZ-based team for 5 years.

25 May: Cain Blenkhorn (43-55, 4.75 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 1.41 WHIP) had decided to test the free agent waters again at the conclusion of his 1-year deal with the Metros, but was lured back to Auckland for 4 years. A sure case of signing based on what-might-be rather than what-had-been, but Auckland management were certain the 27 y/o was going to be a dominant force in seasons to come.

25 May: The Thunder extended 36 y/o Kelvin Ackland’s (.304/.347/.464, 281HR) contract for another season, meaning the unassuming superstar would be on the Central Coast roster until the end of the 2041 season.

26 May: Burt Bargenquast’s (.247/.334/.315, 8HR) 6-year deal with the Heat raised a few eyebrows with fans and media. While 26 y/o Bargenquast had undeniable potential, he had been in and around major league ball since 2032 and had yet to have a strong full season.

27 May: Power-hitter Vaughan Lockrey (.252/.338/.452, 351HR), the leading active HR hitter, re-signed with the Thunder for 3 years. Asked about whether he thought he was a chance at breaking the 400HR-mark, Lockrey looked surprised and said, “Of course. Sorry, I thought you were going to ask if I’ll get to 500. On that: maybe.” Lockrey only hit 19HR in 2039, but assured reporters his power hadn’t left him: “Was just dealing with a few persistent niggles during the season.”

27 May: Logan Neilson (76-71, 3.40 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) signed a 4-year contract with the Thunder.

27 May: Wellington obviously had an attraction for Russell Puckeridge (.275/.333/.498, 108HR) as he was headed back there, this time for 2 years. In 2039 Puckeridge hit .288/.346/.498, as well as 30HR, with the Melbourne Aces, and assured all and sundry his form wouldn’t slump now that he was back in Wellington. He said, “Yeah, I know the 2 seasons I was here before were a bit lean, but last year showed I’ve gotten a handle on my trade, so I’m ready to get back out there and give the Fury fans something to cheer about.”

5 Jun: Bill Buffey (.271/.326/.484, 184HR) signed on the dotted line with the Thunder for 3 years. The Thunder now had 3 viable 1B options, though indications from management were that Buffey would start in LF, where he’d played in 173 of his 883 games. He’d played 384 at 1B, 10 others in the OF, and the rest as a DH.

9 Jun: The Roos signed Alan Neill (89-68, 3.85 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.24 WHIP) for 2 years.

19 Jun: Brendon Vernon (182-115, 3.47 ERA, 3.59 ERA, 1.21 FIP) signed a 1-year deal with the Bandits. “Look,” he said, “I’m realistic about things. I don’t have aspirations of being a replacement for Dylan Cully, but I hope I’m still good enough to hold down a 4 or 5 spot in the rotation.”

1 Jul: Neither Lewis or Mildren had yet signed with a team. Speculation had already been swirling but began to pick up in intensity. Rumour had it they both wanted 7 or 8 year deals.

4 Jul: Luigi Crabtree (169-143, 3.25 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) would wear a Fury cap for the 2040 season.

5 Jul: At 39 y/o, Neil Okolita (156-135, 3.74 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) was reported to be embracing the journeyman tag media had given him last season as he signed to play with his 5th different team in 4 campaigns. This year he would turn out for the Metros again.

12 Jul: Jerry Meehan (52-45, 4.09 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) would play for the Venom in 2040.

4 Aug: The preseason officially began and there was still no news as to where Mildren or Lewis would be playing in 2040.

10 Aug: Former Bandits’ reliever Burt Lipinski (25-18, 13 sv, 3.69 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.30 WHIP) finalized a 3-year deal with the Thunder.

10 Aug: Brisbane signed Kade DeJong (50-41, 173 sv, 3.17 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.20 WHIP) for 2 years. With 3 pitchers on the Bandits’ roster who all wanted the closing role, some outsiders wondered how team chemistry would be affected. GM Rupert Goudie played down any suggestions it would be a negative. “Competition for spots is always a good thing,” he said. “And we’ve always got to be prepared for injuries.”

12 Aug: Haechen Lee (.267/.320/.476, 177HR) would be playing on the Central Coast in 2040.

14 Aug: The Aces signed Lou Stapleton (.256/.318/.373, 76HR) to a 1-year deal.

20 Aug: Jarod Atkins (.249/.322/.390, 103HR) would call Whangarei home for the next 2 seasons, provided he met his vesting option requirements during 2040.

27 Aug: Auckland signed Henry Gosselin (.266/.292/.399, 45HR) for 1 year.

3 Sep: Spring training kicked off, and just like last year, neither Mildren nor Lewis had signed anywhere.

4 Sep: Gavin Jiang (57-66, 4.71 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.44 WHIP) would be back in Auckland for the 2040 season.

21 Sep: 42 y/o Fu Lao (188-192, 3.97 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.29 WHIP) just kept on going. He signed a 1-year deal with the Cowboys, joking that he was now in a race with 40 y/o Damian Neill (playing with the Fury in 2040) to be the 1st in AUNZBL history to reach 200 losses.

1 Oct: Opening Day and Mildren and Lewis were still unsigned. Word was no team’s budget had much room left for free agent signings, particularly not of their caliber. Analysts were beginning to worry that the pair might wind up not having a team in 2040.

Notable Trades

29 Apr: Wellington consummated a trade with division rivals Christchurch, sending 34 y/o sometime starter, sometime closer Axel Bourke (82-81, 103 saves, 3.97 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 1.35 WHIP) to the Cowboys in exchange for 26 y/o 1B Jake Mekville (.225/.277/.477, 38HR in 2 seasons as a backup) and a 22 y/o starting prospect of good potential.

7 May: Venom management did their best to put a positive spin on this trade, but their fans weren’t buying it. They’d acquired a 27 y/o fringe-ML reliever and a relieving prospect from the Bandits in exchange for 25 y/o 1B Manuel Mendoza (.316/.338/.434, 22HR). Bandits’ officials, on the other hand, looked as smug as a Cheshire cat presenting Mendoza to the media throng.

7 May: The Fury cashed in on 27 y/o Vinnie Widdison’s 3rd place finish in the RotY standings, trading him to the Cavalry in exchange for below-average 32 y/o reliever Tom Seitzinger and a 22 y/o stud starting prospect.

25 May: The Thunder shipped 28 y/o 3B Lachlan Aitcheson (.267/.313/.368, 32HR), who would likely be a free agent at the end of the 2040 season if he stayed healthy, plus a prospect, to the Blue Sox in exchange for injury-prone 25 y/o SP Sterling Trevelyan (15-21, 4.63 ERA, 4.70 FIP, 1.35 WHIP).

27 May: The Cowboys traded 36 y/o veteran, and active saves leader, Dan Vankrimpen (81-73, 336 sv, 3.20 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) as well as a decent 1B prospect, to the Bandits for 28 y/o 2B Kane Wheeler (.236/.284/.337, 13HR). Vankrimpen needed 25 saves to become the all-time saves leader, but it was hard to see how he would get those in 2040, with Axel Kent unlikely to lose his grip on the closing role.

26 Jul: The Cavalry traded 25 y/o Gold Glove CF Marcello Hynes (.243/.295/.361, 22HR) to the Roos for a 26 y/o pitcher that should only see major league time if the entire ML staff got struck down by injury, and the 14th overall pick in the 2037 draft, a 21 y/o SS who projected to be an everyday player in a couple years.

12 Sep: In a surprise twist, just months after signing an extension with the Thunder, 36 y/o Kelvin Ackland found himself heading back to Auckland, along with a 20 y/o 1B prospect, while 35 y/o RF Trent Parsons (.249/.311/.410, 163HR) was on his way back to the Central Coast, where he’d played his entire career before signing with the Metros.

Notable Injuries

23 Sep: Joe Murray Jr. (.294/.331/.418, 31HR) would miss a couple months with a broken hamate bone.

Other Notes

12 Jun: Takashi Takeuchi had no plans to return to Japan once his tenure in the AUNZBL was up. Today he announced he’d purchased a 30-acre vineyard and winery in the Matakana region, at that time still on the outskirts of Auckland. The area had been protected from residential development by the NZ government, who’d labelled it a ‘dedicated winemaking’ region. He planned to launch his own brand of wine. The label? You guessed it: Tremendous Wines.

[Izz]

2040 Preseason Predictions

The Southwest was predicted to be a 3-horse race again in 2040, with the Cavalry eventually winning by a couple lengths. The Heat would finish 2nd and snare the wildcard, while the Venom would be a few games back in 3rd, but still with a respectable record.

The Northeast was going to be all Blue Sox, with their young lineup predicted to blossom, and their pitching staff to hold their own. The Bandits and Thunder would finish in a tie for 2nd, while the Roos wouldn't feature at all.

It would be nobody but Metros in the NZ, with the Sluggers finishing in 2nd, but below .500.

Of course, none of those predictions ever seemed to hold much water, and if Mildren and Lewis did sign anywhere, anything could happen.

Snijders and Ming were predicted to duke it out for the SotY, with Brock Wakely and Rees to be in the mix as well. If Wurfel had an injury-free season he would challenge for the batting title, the experts said. They also predicted Bransington to be a declining force.

Edward Delaney would be the league's best pitcher (how many times had that been predicted before) with Newcastle's 'Fury' Ling also challenging for HotY. Cheadle and Kalman would also have strong seasons.

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2040/2041 Season - October

Notable Performances

4 Oct: Hal Steedman went 5-6 for the Venom as they rolled Melbourne 14-2.

8 Oct: Jing-zhong Ling allowed only 3 hits to lead the Heat to a convincing 7-0 shutout victory over the Venom. He struck out 6 and walked none.

12 Oct: Roland Matheson went 5-8 for the Heat as they took 18 innings to overcome the Sluggers 7-6. Matheson contributed 4 of the Heat’s runs with a Grand Slam in the 8th. He also hit a triple in the 10th, but was left stranded.

23 Oct: Phillip Tinter hit for the cycle as Canberra trounced Wellington 11-3.

24 Oct: Adrian McHugh went 5-5, including a double and 2HR, but couldn’t help his Fury overcome the Roos. They went down 11-6.

31 Oct: She Liu led the Blue Sox to a 6-0 shutout victory over the Cavalry this day, allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7.

Notable Injuries

11 Oct: Brisbane SS Benjamin Barclay would be out 6 weeks with a fractured finger.

12 Oct: Alan Delaney, Fury 2B, would be on the DL 3-4 weeks while he recovered from a strained rib cage muscle.

13 Oct: Wes Norris would be out of the Blue Sox lineup for up to 6 week while he was treated for recurring back spasms.

13 Oct: Harley Puckeridge faced 4 weeks on the sidelines after spraining his elbow.

13 Oct: Hong-bin Bao made it 3 everyday Bandits players out injured. He’d strained his oblique and would miss 3-4 weeks.

15 Oct: Young-tae Lee separated his shoulder and was expected to miss 5 weeks.

18 Oct: Roland Matheson (.358/.370/.567, 2HR) would miss up to 4 weeks with a hamstring strain.

19 Oct: The Cavalry would be without Zachariah Hutchinson (.304/.407/.652, 5HR) for at least 5 weeks thanks to a fractured wrist.

20 Oct: Gavin Liddell (.310/.367/.366) would miss 3 weeks worth of Crocs’ games with a torn thumb ligament.

26 Oct: Brisbane lost another middle infielder, Bryan Redelius (.303/.324/.515, 3HR), this time for 4 months. He had fractured his ankle.

26 Oct: Injury-prone Metro Mike Wurfel (.274/.330/.442, 3HR) would need 7 weeks to nurse a torn quad back to health.

28 Oct: Perth SP and local favourite, Michael Paterson (2-2, 3.51 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 1.05 WHIP) would be out 8 weeks with a strained oblique.

29 Oct: Trent Parsons (.301/.369/.602, 8HR) would miss 2 weeks with a hamstring strain.

30 Oct: Veteran Raul Gomez (.299/.375/.579, 9HR) sprained a knee and would miss 4 weeks as a result.

Notable Trades/Signings

7 Oct: Finally, a week into the season, 2 big announcements were made. Firstly, Alistair Mildren (.292/.371/.511, 277HR), 2039 Slugger of the Year, announced he would play for the Venom in 2040.

7 Oct: Richard Lewis (.305/.405/.422, 53HR) re-signed with the Sluggers for the season. Both players, when asked why it took them so long to sign, had similar responses. Mildren said, “It certainly wasn’t intentional. I guess what we wanted and what teams were prepared to give us were different, and it took a long time to reach an agreement.”

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 23 y/o Cowboys’ DH Bernie Grinter. The youngster went .303/.372/.569 in the month, 33-109, with 8 doubles, 7HR and 11 walks.

Hurler of the Month: Another Cowboys’ player scooped this award: Brock Humphries. He was 4-1 in 7 starts in October, with a 1.96 ERA, a 3.46 WHIP, and a 1.17 WHIP. He struck out 36 in 46.0 IP.

Slugger of the Month: 35 y/o Heat catcher Arnold Tipping (who had been a Cowboy in 2039). .398/.467/.612, 41-103, with 7 doubles, 5HR, and 14BB.

Media Watch

With Kelvin Ackland having snared top spot on the all-time hits leaderboard, and with it also looking as if he would primarily play a bench role for the Metros this season, the media turned their attention to 35 y/o Vaughan Lockrey and 35 y/o (in October) Rex Rees. Lockrey had finished the 2039 season as the active leading HR hitter with 351, while Rees finished 3rd on the active leaderboard, with 332. With Rees in particular not looking like he was losing any of his power, the media began writing up ‘race to 400’ columns, making special mention of any homers they hit in game reports and day reviews. Beau Tyson, 2nd on the active leaderboard with 350, also looked destined for a bench role this season, so didn’t find himself included.

Vaughan Lockrey: Had a slow start to the year, hitting .190/.280/.305. Of his 20 hits, only 2 were of the HR variety. He moved to 353 all-time HRs.

Rex Rees: Had a strong month, hitting .317/.462/.634. 8 of his 32 hits were HRs. He now had 340 career, only 13 behind Lockrey. He also needed only 35 more hits to reach the 2,000 career mark, and 39 more BBs to get to 1,000.

Other Notes

Southwest Division: Every team apart from the Venom started off the season guns blazing. The Aces and Heat finished the month on top, their 18-11 record 1 game better than the Cavalry’s record and 2 games better than the Prospects.

Northeast Division: The Thunder jumped out to a 4-game lead, with no other team above .500.

NZ Division: With the addition of Dylan Cully the Sluggers had assembled a strong pitching staff, and the late re-signing of Lewis gave their lineup the extra something it was missing. They, along with the Metros, sat atop the NZ, the Cowboys 2 games back and 1 below .500.

Wildcard: With the congestion at the top of 2 of the 3 divisions, the wildcard was congested, too. Perhaps by the end of November some clear competitors might have emerged.

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Ashley Snijders’ could count himself unlucky to have missed out on SotM. He put up .350/.443/.699, with 9 doubles and 9HR, to lead the league SLG, OPS, wOBA (.463), ISO (.350), and batter’s WAR (2.1).

Bill Bransington (.237/.409/.351, 3HR) had started off struggling with his new team, but at least he hadn’t been impatient at the plate, drawing 29 walks to lead the league.

Hobart’s Brodie ‘Gasoline’ Backhouse had recorded 10 saves to lead the league. Even more impressive was that no earned runs had been scored off him in 14 appearances. His FIP was 0.61, his WHIP 0.41, and he had struck out 25 batters in 14.2 innings. The 24 y/o only had 2 pitches in his armory, but they were both great: a devastating fastball and an off-the-charts curve.

Sydney’s Steven Kadow (1-5, 5.17 ERA, 5.35 FIP, 1.45 WHIP), a 25 y/o with a 160 km/h fastball, had a few control issues, and had already walked 30 hitters in 40 IP.

Standings, Nov 1

[Izz]

2040/2041 Season - November

Notable Performances

3 Nov: Beau Riseley spanked 5-7, including 3 doubles, as the Crocs prevailed over the Prospects 7-4 in 15 innings.

4 Nov: PERFECT GAME!!!! Edwin Haynes became only the 2nd pitcher in AUNZBL history to throw a perfect game, needing just 80 pitches to dispatch the Blue Sox in order 3-0. He struck out 9, and had the entire crowd of 44,575 on their feet from the 7th inning on. He finished the game in style, striking out the 1st 2 hitters and getting a weak groundball to the shortstop to record the final out and write his name in history.

5 Nov: Bruce Radford conceded only 4 hits, striking out 4, to help the Cowboys beat up the Bandits 7-0.

14 Nov: Central Coast’s Richard Avery blanked the Aces on the back of 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5, and the Thunder won 4-0.

15 Nov: 23 y/o Aces RF Greg Stanley went 5-5 in his side’s narrow 6-5 loss to the Cavalry.

19 Nov: The Blue Sox had got off to a horrible start to the year, so far reddening the faces of all who had picked them to top their division, but perhaps they were beginning to turn things around. Will Mossop stroked 5 hits from 7 at-bats as Sydney ground out a 4-3 win over the Crocs in 14 innings. It was a game they’d had wrapped up, leading 3-0 heading into the top of the 9th before Cairns scored 3 to take the game to extra innings.

20 Nov: For all his brilliance Richard Lewis had never accumulated a 20+ game hit streak in the bigs. He rectified that this day, however, hitting in his 20th straight game.

24 Nov: Lewis had his hit streak ended at 22.

25 Nov: Logan Neilson allowed 2 singles in the 1st inning against Cairns, but then nothing more as he led the Thunder to a 1-0 victory (the Thunder scored the winning run in the bottom of the 8th). Neilson struck out 8.

26 Nov: 34 y/o Raul Gomez, written off by many last season as being well past his peak, hit in his 20th straight game. The previous game, he’d driven in his 1000th career RBI. His hit streak was snapped the next night.

29 Nov: Bradley Lundgren rang up 10 Ks, allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk, to lead the Sluggers to 6-0 victory over the Cowboys.

Notable Injuries

6 Nov: Jeremy Gillorn (.272/.311/.325) got plunked on the foot by a pitch. The result: a fracture and 3 weeks on the DL.

10 Nov: Newcastle would be without regular catcher Leo Jiang (.293/.414/.457, 1HR) for 5 weeks as he recovered from a strained lat.

10 Nov: Pi-ao Ming (.265/.327/.463, 6HR) would miss at least 2 weeks with a bruised collarbone.

11 Nov: In his 1st game back from a torn thumb ligament, Gavin Liddell sustained an even more serious injury, partially tearing his labrum. He would be out at least 5 weeks this time around.

13 Nov: Arnold Tipping (.358/.421/.560, 5HR) would miss up to 5 weeks with a strained oblique.

15 Nov: Adelaide lost closer Brendon Dwyer (3-0, 9sv, 1.50 ERA, 1.87 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) for 3 months after he inflamed his rotator cuff.

21 Nov: Bill Bransington (.230/.393/.404, 8HR) would miss 2 weeks with a sore shoulder.

28 Nov: Sluggers’ SP Allan Spear (2-2, 4.50 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.39 WHIP) was involved in a car crash. Fortunately, he wasn’t badly injured. However, he did sprain his ankle and would be out of the rotation for 2 weeks.

29 Nov: 36 y/o Dan Vankrimpen (2-0 in 15 relief appearances) suffered the 1st documented injury of his career and boy was it a doozy. He tore his rotator cuff and wouldn’t return this season.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 23 y/o Cavalry 3B Adam Hunt. The switch hitter went .352/.409/.467, 37-105, with 6 doubles and 2HR, as well as 10BB.

Hurler of the Month: Fury SP Tim Thurgood. 5-0 from 6 starts, with a 1.79 ERA, a 2.18 FIP, and a 0.82 WHIP. In 40.1 IP he fanned 28 and allowed no HRs.

Slugger of the Month: Richard Lewis. 48-110, with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3HR, and 15BB. Stat-line: .436/.508/.591.


Media Watch

Vaughan Lockrey: Picked it up in November, going .269/.333/.484, 25-93, with 4 of those hits HRs, taking him to 357 career dingers.

Rex Rees: Only hit .255/.375/.472 in the month, accumulating 27 hits from 106 ABs. 7 of those were HRs, taking him to 15 on the season, 3rd in the league, and 347 career.

Other Notes

20 Nov: Only 3 starts after throwing his perfect game, Edwin Haynes had something else to ponder over. In the 2nd inning of a game against the Aces, he beaned 1B Matthew Tanner with his 0-1 pitch after a solo HR by the previous hitter. There could be no doubt it was intentional as Tanner had been forced to demonstrate his limbo skills to evade the previous pitch. Tanner charged the mound, and both players got a few licks in before the inevitable bench-clearing pileup. However, as the fight ended and both players were ejected, they went after each other again, nearly sparking another all-in brawl. The league’s punishment: 14-game suspensions for each of them, some of the longest fighting suspensions so far handed out.

#

Southwest Division: The Aces (19-9) had a storming month, but at the end of it still only held a 1-game advantage over the Cavalry (19-9). The Heat (9-19) went in the opposite direction, finishing November at the bottom of the Southwest heap. The Prospects (17-11) kept themselves in it, and the Venom (16-12) pulled themselves above .500.

Northeast Division: The Thunder (11-17) couldn’t keep the pace up, but still finished the month only 1 game behind leaders Newcastle (16-12).

NZ Division: The Metros (16-12) stood alone atop the NZ at month’s end, with the Sluggers (13-15) dropping off a touch, while the Cowboys (15-13) got into jostling range.

Wildcard: The Cavalry held a 3-game lead over the Prospects, with the Venom, Cowboys and Sluggers 7 games off the pace.

#

Wellington RF Will Hodge (.290/.323/.566, 16HR) had been a fringe-ML player until 2039, when he assumed a bench role. Now, at 28 y/o, nearly 29, he was finally getting a chance to play every day and was loving it. He was tied with Snijders (.333/.434/.630, 16HR) atop the HR leaderboard.

Lewis led the league in avg., OBP, OPS, wOBA (.471), and hits (87), while Snijders had the league’s best slugging %, most RBI (52), ISO (.296), XBH (32), TB (136), and batter’s WAR (3.6).

Ian Zglinicki (8-2, 2.22 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.21 WHIP) could thank his defense for his league-leading ERA.

Brodie Blackhouse had 20 saves from 20 opportunities by the end of November. He allowed 1 ER during the month, to take his ERA to 0.33. That ER was also a HR. In 27.2 innings (across 27 appearances) he’d struck out 42. His FIP had risen to 1.28, while his WHIP had dropped a point, to 0.40.

Standings, Dec 1

[Izz]

2040/2041 Season - December

2040 #1 Draft Pick

The Aces drafted 19 y/o catcher Jacob Blanksby straight out of high school. Known as a guy who kept to himself but who trained and studied hard, Blanksby put up exceptional numbers in high school. Scouts rated him as having plus power potential, and able to hit for a decent, but probably not over .300, average.

A quick look at how the previous 4 years of #1 draft picks were going:

2039: OF Lindsay Colson didn’t look out of place in the majors, while still having plenty of room for improvement. He was hitting .251/.308/.366, 3HR. 20 of his 61 hits were extra-base (15 doubles, 2 triples, 3HR).

2038: Sterling Duff was still in AAA, knocking on the door to the majors. Was starting this season, and had clocked up impressive numbers in 11 starts: 7-1, 2.62 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 57 Ks in 75.2 IP. His coaches said he still had room to improve with his pitch location and pitch ‘heaviness’ before he’d be major-league ready. He couldn’t be far off, though.

2037: Sterling Dunlop was the number 2 starter in Whangarei’s rotation, behind Dylan Cully. Dunlop was a 2-time All Star, and pitched well in last year’s postseason.

2036: Bruno Watters was managing to hold down a major-league rotation spot with the Crocs, but that was primarily due to a lack of other options. Bruno had the armory to be a success, boasting 6 pitches, but didn’t appear to have the desire or work ethic necessary to master his art.

Notable Performances

9 Dec: Rex Weichard restricted the Thunder to 5 hits and no walks, striking out 6, to help the Cowboys win 4-0.

11 Dec: With his 8th-inning double in a 5-3 Sluggers’ victory over the Blue Sox, Rex Rees recorded his 2000th hit. Rees was hitting .276/.403/.535 on the season, with 17HR, and while he didn’t want to admit the milestone might’ve been playing on his mind, teammates said it was certainly possible. “Yeah,” one said, “sometimes his swing doesn’t look as loose as usual, so maybe he’s been thinking about it. I know I would be in his shoes.”

13 Dec: The 2040 season was turning into the season of epic extra-innings battles. In this latest one, Pi-ao Ming went 5-8, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 17th, to get the Cavalry a 6-5 victory over the Cowboys.

15 Dec: Rhys England carried the Aces to a 6-0 shutout victory over the Prospects, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 4.

18 Dec: The Brisbane Bandits slid to their 10th loss on the trot, going down 5-3 to Cairns. They would get back on the winning horse in their next game.

18 Dec: Calvin Garland went 5-5, including 2 doubles, as the Prospects scrapped their way to 4-3 12-inning victory over the Aces.

20 Dec: Alan Cobb, showing no hint of having a sophomore slump, hit in his 20th straight game. The streak would end the following night.

20 Dec: Cody Wood allowed only 3 hits, fanning 9, to lead the Roos to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Fury.

24 Dec: Beau Riseley made it to 20 consecutive games with a hit.

29 Dec: Riseley extended his hit streak to 25 games.

Notable Injuries

3 Dec: Joshua Cheadle (2-8, 6.18 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.49 WHIP) would likely be grateful for the time off after he strained a hamstring. It was estimated he would take 6 weeks to return to full fitness.

7 Dec: Hobart would be without middle-of-the-lineup staple Connor Rowling (.332/.412/.578, 13HR) for 2 months after he did his hammy.

23 Dec: Gavin Liddell was having a season to forget. In his 4th game of a rehab assignment in AAA, Liddell tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Doctors said this was one of the worst tears they’d seen and Liddel would be doing no playing of any kind for at least 7 months.

27 Dec: The Heat would be without RF Harris Baldwin (.296/.342/.433, 4HR) for 5 weeks after he strained his anterior cruciate ligament.

31 Dec: While Bill Buffey (.212/.266/.368, 12HR) had been struggling in his new home on the Central Coast, the Thunder would miss his power threat in the middle of their lineup. He had a strained medial collateral ligament and would miss 5-6 weeks of playing time.

2040 All Stars

Australian All Stars

SP Luke Bodkin - HOB - 10-2, 2.63 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
SP Richard Avery - CEN - 10-4, 3.48 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.13 WHIP
SP Allan Koka - CAN - 10-4, 3.40 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.02 WHIP
SP Rhys England - MEL - 8-4, 2.97 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.24 WHIP
SP Jing-zhong Ling - PER - 8-3, 3.00 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.13 WHIP
SP Rowan Kalman - CAI - 5-4, 2.55 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.03 WHIP
SP Xing-hua Ling - NEW - 8-6, 2.81 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 0.98 WHIP
SP Edwin Haynes - NEW - 6-3, 3.02 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.18 WHIP
MR Roderick Mawby - HOB - 7-1, 1 sv, 2.41 ERA, 2.40 FIP, 0.92 WHIP
CL Burt Lipinski - CEN - 2-5, 21 sv, 1.93 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.10 WHIP
CL Wally Barlow - PER - 2-2, 18 sv, 1.72 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 0.99 WHIP
CL Ian Naismith - WEL - 3-2, 19 sv, 1.91 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 0.96 WHIP
C Seb Massingham - CAN - .273/.305/.412, 7HR
1B Alastair Mildren - ADE - .316/.419/.560, 18HR
1B Beau Trew - HOB - .325/.359/.538, 16HR
2B Dan Lumsden - HOB - .322/.360/.528, 14HR
2B Alan Cobb - ADE - .360/.389/.420, 0HR
3B Brock Wakely - AUC - .257/.358/.483, 20HR
3B Terry Henderson - ADE - .290/.375/.509, 17HR
3B Adam Hunt - CAN - .336/.393/.453, 4HR
SS Phillip Tinter - CAN - .296/.372/.481, 10HR
SS Burt Bargenquast - PER - .301/.401/.388, 0HR
LF Trent Parsons - CEN - .262/.331/.481, 14HR
LF Beau Riseley - CAI - .293/.339/.434, 10HR
CF Pi-ao Ming - CAN - .319/.372/.579, 16HR
CF Adrian McHugh - WEL - .272/.309/.457, 14HR
CF Charlie Buckland - AUC - .284/.339/.393, 7HR
RF Will Hodge - WEL - .256/.302/.497, 20HR

NZ & Overseas All Stars

SP Yue-jiu Chin - MEL - 10-3, 3.02 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.26 WHIP
SP Tim Thurgood - WEL - 9-2, 3.54 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 1.17 WHIP
SP Cody Wood - NEW - 8-6, 3.71 ERA, 3.48 FIP, 1.10 WHIP
SP Bernie Limeburner - HOB - 8-6, 3.21 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 1.36 WHIP
SP Dylan Cully - WHA - 5-6, 3.42 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.19 WHIP
SP Takashi Takeuchi - AUC - 7-5, 3.81 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.20 WHIP
SP Stewart Webber - PER - 8-4, 3.59 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.32 WHIP
SP Brock Humphries - CHR - 8-7, 3.14 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.29 WHIP
SP Brendan Pengilly - AUC - 8-3, 4.15 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.32 WHIP
MR Vinnie Acheson - CEN - 5-1, 1.88 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
MR Porter Murdock - SYD - 1-0, 1 sv, 1.33 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 1.09 WHIP
CL Brodie Backhouse - HOB - 1-0, 29 sv, 0.42 ERA, 1.16 FIP, 0.56 WHIP
C Russell Saunders - CAI - .324/.393/.536, 13 HR
C Angelo Brewster - HOB - .311/.397/.492, 9HR
C Danny Goodwin - BRI - .281/.326/.477, 11HR
1B Ashley Snijders - CAN - .317/.412/.568, 19HR
1B Dean Warner - CEN - .291/.347/.404, 8HR
2B Marcello Bond - AUC - .302/.354/.486, 11HR
2B Vinnie Widdison - CAN - .309/.348/.498, 12HR
3B Rex Rees - WHA - .272/.394/.520, 19HR
3B Connor Palmer - CAI - .312/.341/.364, 2HR
SS Bailey Pugsley - NEW - .303/.331/.376, 2HR
SS Drew Geoghegan - HOB - .272/.370/.347, 2HR
LF Richard Lewis - WHA - .387/.473/.521, 8HR
LF Marcello Stuart - MEL - .294/.359/.530, 13HR
CF Harry Hancock - AUC - .267/.385/.440, 9HR
RF Raymond Scammell - HOB - .285/.341/.404, 3HR
RF Olivier Despres - WHA - .269/.327/.419, 12HR

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: 24 y/o Aces 3B Wang-lin Tan. He hit .340/.369/.566 in December, 36-106, with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 5HR.

Hurler of the Month: Metros’ veteran Chuk-yan Chin. 6-0 in 6 starts, with a 1.94 ERA, a 3.70 FIP, and a 1.08 WHIP. A contact pitcher, he only struck out 20 batters in 46.1 IP.

Slugger of the Month: Angelo Brewster. The Hobart catcher was .373/.471/.687 in the month, 31-83, with 5 doubles, 7HR, and 17BB.

Media Watch

Vaughan Lockrey: .245/.274/.373 in the month, with 3HR from 27 hits, to take him to 360 career.

Rex Rees: Overtook Beau Tyson on the all-time HR leaderboard during the month. Hit .269/.347/.481 for the month, with 5HR. He now had 352 career.

Other Notes

9 Dec: Matthew Tanner was only in his 4th game back from suspension when he found himself before the AUNZBL judiciary again. This time the firebrand charged Rowan Kalman when the Crocs’ star plunked him. Both players were suspended 8 games. When asked after the game if he’d intentionally thrown at Tanner, Kalman, already reported to be unhappy in Cairns, responded, “Sometimes a pitch gets away from you. Yeah, Gomez absolutely creamed that last one so far into space it probably got picked up by one of the ASN’s orbiting shuttles, but that happens. Maybe I lost my concentration, I don’t know. I’m just glad Matt dropped the bat before running at me.”

#

29 Dec: Gareth Torley didn’t last long in the top job at Sydney. Great expectations had followed his elevation to the managing role prior to the season, but with the Blue Sox at 29-54, GM Brian Tipping tipped Torley out. The 4-time Skipper of the Year, who’d won Championship rings with 3 different teams, and who was known to have a feud with the Roos, with whom he’d won one of those rings in 2029, fired a couple parting shots at the Blue Sox organization.

He said, “Yeah, I kinda knew I was getting myself into a no-win situation. Maybe I should’ve said no and avoided the whole mess, but I guess I’ve got a bit of ego, and thought we could turn things around with what we have. I’m not talking about the players, mind you. They’re a great bunch of guys. No, I’m talking overall resources. Look, I’m okay with small-market teams who want to be competitive on small budgets, but here we have a team that represents the biggest city in Australia. They’ve got an obligation to always be there or thereabouts. But if you look at the facilities, and I know you guys have seen what I’ve seen, as well as the overall lack of attention to detail, you can see why they’re in this mess. If Mr. Lang would open up his pockets just a little more and give the players and staff who work their butts off a stadium and training facilities to be proud of, as well as equipment that utilizes the latest tech, then maybe that might put the Blue Sox on their way to achieving something. I mean, last year we turned a massive profit, maybe the biggest we ever have, and you know where all of it bar a few cents went? That’s right, into Mr. Lang’s pockets so he can prance around Sydney playing the aging playboy who comes off as a bit desperate to everybody he’s trying to impress.”

Ian Spicer, who had a brief stint as interim manager for the Central Coast in 2025, and had only resurfaced in the baseball world in 2038 managing at AA-level, would take over at the Blue Sox for the rest of the season.

#

Southwest Division: The Prospects (21-8) leapfrogged both the Cavalry (16-13) and the Aces (14-15) to take the lead in the division. The Heat (18-11) surged also, but could only find themselves in 4th, while the Venom (15-14) were also above .500.

Northeast Division: The Roos (14-15) and the Thunder (15-14) finished the month neck-and-neck, both playing exactly .500 ball. The Crocs, Bandits and Blue Sox were all under .400.

NZ Division: The Metros (18-11), solidified their lead in the division, while the Sluggers (16-13) solidified their hold on 2nd. The Cowboys (8-21) nosedived to hit the bottom of the division ladder.

Wildcard: The Aces and Canberra were the 2 main jousters in this race currently, with both of them eying their division lead as well. The Heat and Sluggers sat 7 games back, the Venom 8.

#

Will Hodge’s 23HRs gave him a lead of 1 over Snijders, with Rees and Wakely back in 3rd with 20. Mildren had made up for his late start to hold 5th spot with 19.

Sydney’s Adam Quinn had the unenviable record of leading the league in losses. He had racked up a 1-14 record. His FIP was 5.76, which didn’t look nearly as bad as his ERA: 8.04. Sydney didn’t appear interested in playing defense this season.

Standings, Dec 1

[Izz]

2040/2041 Season - January

Notable Performances

2 Jan: Riseley’s hit streak came to an end at 27 games. This was good enough to stand alone as the 3rd best all-time hitting streak.

5 Jan: Jorge Juarez rolled back the turf, throwing his 1st shutout since the 2036 season, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. His Bandits beat the Fury 5-0.

7 Jan: Aces LF Greg Stanley had his 2nd 5-hit game of the season, going 5-6 with 2 doubles and a HR to help Melbourne overcome the Thunder 6-5 in 11 innings. Stanley’s RBI-double in the 9th tied the game up, and his RBI-single in the 11th gave the Aces the go-ahead, and eventual winning, run.

8 Jan: Alastair Mildren joined the 300HR club! His 2-run shot in the 8th also accounted for all of the Venom’s run in a 2-1 victory over the Blue Sox. Mildren was 5th on the active HR leaderboard.

9 Jan: Ted Chapman allowed only 2 singles in leading the Aces to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Thunder. He struck out 4.

16 Jan: Olivier Despres went 5-5 as his Sluggers fought their way past the Metros 3-2.

17 Jan: Manuel Mendoza went 5-5 for Brisbane as the Bandits beat the Thunder 7-5.

22 Jan: Will Hodge regained the lead in the HR race from Mildren in dramatic style. He hit 3 homers in 3 ABs to drive the Fury to a 5-2 victory over the Cowboys. All 5 Fury runs were batted in by him.

24 Jan: The Sluggers won their 10th game on the trot. The streak saw them only 1 game behind the Metros in the NZ.

26 Jan: The Sluggers’ win streak ended at 11.

29 Jan: Marcello Stuart hit for the cycle to help the Aces defeat the Bandits 14-7. All in all, he was 4-5, driving in 5, scoring 3 and drawing 1 walk.

29 Jan: Kelvin Ackland became the all-time leading run-scorer in AUNZBL history, scoring run number 1180 in Auckland’s 3-2 victory over Canberra. He was now the all-time leader in games played, ABs, runs, hits, total bases, and doubles.

31 Jan: Ashley Snijders’ 5-5 led the Cavalry to a 15-0 romp over the Metros. Snijders hit 2HR and a double, and also got hit by a pitch.

31 Jan: Logan Neilson conceded only 4 hits to the Prospects, helping the Central Coast to a 5-0 shutout victory.

Notable Injuries

6 Jan: Christchurch rookie Bernie Grinter (.274/.339/.467, 13HR) would be putting his feet up for the next couple weeks while he recovered from a fractured foot.

8 Jan: Burt Bargenquast (.295/.395/.389, 1HR) would be on the DL 4-5 weeks with knee tendinitis.

16 Jan: Hal Steedman (.276/.353/.438, 12HR) was diagnosed with an inflamed shoulder and would be out 3-4 weeks.

24 Jan: The Aces would be without the services of Lou Stapleton (.276/.331/.404, 8HR) for 2 weeks after medical staff said his sore ankle needed rest.

25 Jan: The Thunder were dealt a double blow this day. First, they lost Trent Parsons (.259/.326/.443, 15HR) for at least 5 weeks with a torn quad, and then...

25 Jan: ...they lost Vaughan Lockrey (.242/.306/.406, 13HR) for the rest of the season with a broken hamate bone. Lockrey would finish the season on 364 career HRs, 36 off 400. “Pretty gutted to end the year this way,” Lockrey said, “especially with the team going so well.”

Notable Trades/Signings

2 Jan: Fresh off firing their manager, Sydney appeared to be moving into full rebuild mode. 25 y/o She Liu (6-5, 3.79 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 1.34 WHIP) was sent off to Canberra in exchange for 2 prospects.

2 Jan: In an unusual move, but 1 not too surprising considering it was the Prospects doing it, Hobart shipped off 25 y/o Dan Lumsden (.323/.360/.523, 14HR) to the Roos in return for a career minor league reliever and a catching prospect. The day before, Lumsden had been enjoying his 1st All Star Game.

26 Jan: Roos’ closer Ben Franks (1-4, 25 sv) signed a 1-year extension with the club which would see him not filing for free agency at season’s end.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Greg Stanley. The 23 y/o Aces RF went .385/.431/.736 for January, 30-109, with 5 doubles and 2HR.

Hurler of the Month: Allan Koka. 4-0 in 5 starts, with an incredible 0.26 ERA, 2.11 FIP, and 0.86 WHIP. He struck out 31 in 35.0 IP.

Slugger of the Month: Alistair Mildren. .393/.480/.822, 42-107, with 4 doubles and an incredible 14HR. He also drew 18 walks, and only struck out 8 times in 127PA.

Media Watch

Rex Rees: With Lockrey out for the season, Rees became the centre of media attention. He hit 6HR in January, to go with a .273/.395/.455 stat-line. His 21 other hits were all singles. He finished the month with 358 career dingers, 6 behind Lockrey.

Last Year’s Top Player Watch

2039’s Top Rookies

2039 Rookie of the Year, Alan Cobb: No sophomore slump for Cobb. Hitting .363/.400/.436, 161-443, 64 runs, 30 doubles, 1 triple, 46RBI, 26BB, 477PA. Leading the league in hits.

Dean Warner: Also performing well. .302/.352/.438, 137-454, 57 runs, 15 doubles, 1 triple, 15HR, 72RBI, 34BB, 495PA.

Vinnie Widdison: Traded to Canberra in the offseason, Widdison was tearing up in 2040. .335/.372/.548, 135-403, 58 runs, 33 doubles, 1 triple, 17HR, 62RBI, 24BB, 433PA.

2039’s Top Pitchers

2039 Hurler of the Year, Bradley Lundgren: Found himself 5th in Whangarei’s rotation by the end of January. Had put up the following numbers: 9-11 from 23 starts, 4.49 ERA, 4.79 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 89 Ks in 142.1 IP.

Axel Kent: Struggling in a struggling team, Kent was 1-7, with 23 saves from 47 games. He had an ERA of 5.47, a 5.00 FIP, and a 1.56 WHIP. He’d blown 7 saves, and struck out only 26 in 49.1 IP.

Luigi Kinnear: 8-7 in 22 starts, 4.13 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 1.40 WHIP. 118 Ks in 137.1 IP.

2039’s Top Hitters

2039 Slugger of the Year, Alastair Mildren: Nobody would’ve thought he’d started the season a week late. He was hitting .331/.429/.621, 137-414, 79 runs, 19 doubles, 1 triple, 33HR, 88RBI, 69BB, 489PA. Mildren led the league in slugging, OPS, HR, RBI, ISO (.290), and total bases (257). His batter’s WAR of 6.9 was 2nd in the AUNZBL.

Richard Lewis: Having another stellar season, and flirting with the .400 mark. .395/.481/.558, 159-403, 75 runs, 16 doubles, 4 triples, 14HR, 51RBI, 64BB, 26SB, 470PA. Led the league in average, OBP, wOBA (.456), and batter’s WAR (7.4). 2nd in the league in hits behind Cobb.

Young-tae Lee: Lost 5 weeks with injury, and while his numbers were respectable, they weren’t at last season’s level. .283/.382/.423, 77-272, 32 runs, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 9HR, 39RBI, 11SB, 319PA.

Other Notes

19 Jan: The Cowboys fired skipper Da-xia Fang. Fang had been with the Christchurch for 1 and a half seasons. In 2039 he led them to a 72-90 record and in 2040 they were 41-61 at the time of his axing. Fang couldn’t be reached for comment after the announcement, but insiders said Fang and 1st-year GM Si Chin didn’t see eye-to-eye on team lineups or future development. Former Crocs’ bench coach Sterling Anglesey would fill the void for the rest of the season.

#

Southwest Division: This continued to be an exhilarating division to watch, with 2 of the teams fighting it out in unfamiliar territory come February 1. The Aces (18-10) had regained the division lead, with the Prospects (14-14) dropping 1 game back, equal with the Cavalry (16-12). The Venom (14-14) were 10 games back but still above .500.

Northeast Division: The Roos (10-18) slumped badly in the January heat, falling 6 games behind the Thunder (16-12).

NZ Division: The Metros (14-14) held onto the division lead, but only barely as a surging Sluggers (17-11) pulled to within 2 games. The Fury (17-11) got their noses above the .500 mark.

Wildcard: The likely money was on one of the 3 jostlers in the Southwest ending up with the wildcard slot. The Sluggers were 6 games back from the rampaging Cavalry and Prospects, with the Venom and Fury 9 and 10 games back respectively.

#

Bill Bransington (.238/.375/.433, 17HR) led the league in walks with 78.

Bailey Pugsley (.311/.343/.386, 3HR) had 27 stolen bases, to top the league.

Brodie Backhouse (3-2, 36 sv, 0.93 ERA, 1.68 FIP, 0.74 WHIP) was still proving difficult to hit, though his numbers ballooned a bit in January, almost taking him above the 1.00 ERA mark. He was currently on a streak of 37 consecutive saves.

Rowan Kalman (7-4, 2.60 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 1.03 WHIP) had clawed his way to the top of the strikeout leaderboard, with 149. His 9.69 K/9, and 5.96 K/BB were also league bests, as was his .227 OAVG. His ERA and FIP were top marks, too.

Logan Neilson (8-11, 3.93 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) had the best pitcher’s WAR, with 4.5.

Standings, Feb 1

[Izz]

2040/2041 Season - February

Notable Performances

4 Feb: Roland Matheson went 5-5 in Perth’s 12-2 thrashing of Whangarei.

5 Feb: Manuel Mendoza hit in his 20th straight game.

6 Feb: In going 3-4 in a 6-3 loss to Sydney, Richard Lewis’s average hit .400.

7 Feb: Lewis went 2-5 in a 12-1 victory to keep his average at the .400 mark.

8 Feb: In going 0-4, Lewis saw his average drop to .396. He did rack up PA number 502, though, making him eligible for the batting title no matter what transpired from this point forth. His closest competitor was Alan Cobb, who was hitting .368.

11 Feb: Mendoza extended his hit streak to 25 games. His streak would end the next night.

16 Feb: Lindsay Colson hit in his 20th straight game.

17 Feb: The Fury slumped to their 10th straight loss.

20 Feb: The Fury broke their drought at 12, beating Melbourne 5-1.

21 Feb: Colson extended his hit streak to 25 games.

24 Feb: Colson’s hit streak was finally ended at 26 games.

24 Feb: Rex Rees drew level with Vaughan Lockrey on 364 career HRs during his Sluggers’ 6-5 extra-innings loss to Melbourne.

25 Feb: Rees moved ahead of Lockrey to become the leading active HR hitter, his solo effort in the 9th not quite enough to stop Whangarei going down to Melbourne 8-7. Rees had homered 3 consecutive nights.

27 Feb: Rookie Greg Stanley racked up his 3rd 5-hit game of the year, going 5-5 in the Aces’ 6-4 defeat of the Blue Sox.

Notable Injuries

3 Feb: Harris Baldwin (.291/.335/.426, 4HR) had played his last game of the season after breaking a hamate.

4 Feb: Raul Gomez (.278/.373/.494, 16HR) would miss a couple weeks thanks to a bruised bone in his wrist.

5 Feb: Brisbane’s Hwen-thiang Guo (.266/.370/.393, 9HR) would be out 5 weeks with a torn hamstring.

5 Feb: Marcello Bond’s (.277/.325/.434, 12HR) season was over after he severely fractured his ankle.

7 Feb: Cowboys’ power-hitter Alec Brajak (.275/.318/.471, 23HR) would sit out 3-4 weeks with a hamstring strain.

9 Feb: Bill Bransington (.232/.372/.419, 17HR) would likely miss the rest of the season with a sprained ankle. It was fair to say Bransington’s 1st season as a Bandit had been a disappointment.

12 Feb: Young-tae Lee (.274/.375/.419, 10HR) suffered his 2nd major injury of the season, tearing his hamstring. He was expected to be out until the last week of the season.

25 Feb: Auckland LF Tommy Wiechard (.285/.346/.436, 13HR) would be out until the final week of the regular season with a fractured foot.

25 Feb: In a double whammy for the NZ division leaders, super RF Charlie Buckland (.260/.305/.372, 12HR, +17.5ZR) would be out a similar length of time with a high ankle sprain.

Notable Trades/Signings

6 Feb: 32 y/o Edward Delaney (6-14, 3.69 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.27 WHIP) signed a 4-year extension with the Blue Sox. Outspoken in his support of the organization, Delaney’s re-signing might do much to quell the rumours of player revolt doing the rounds in the media.

Month Awards

Rookie of the Month: Greg Stanley. .327/.391/.654, 34-104, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 8HR, 8BB.

Hurler of the Month: Perth closer Wally Barlow was 2-0, with 7 saves in February, in 10 appearances. He didn’t concede a single earned run, had an FIP of 1.75 and a WHIP of 0.91. He struck out 11 in 11.0 IP.

Slugger of the Month: Youngster Lindsay Colson scooped SotM in February, going .400/.460/.650, 40-100, with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 5HR. He also walked 11 times.

Media Watch

Rex Rees: As mentioned in the Notable Performances section, Rees passed Lockrey as the AUNZBL’s active HR hitter, and was now 4th all-time. He hit .347/.443/.582 for the month, with 7 of his 34 hits of the HR variety. He’d clawed his way back to 3rd on the season HR leaderboard.

Other Notes

19 Feb: Brisbane said farewell to manager John Saunderson. The Bandits were 52-79. Saunderson, who’d led Brisbane to 4 90+ win seasons in his nearly 6 years at the helm, said he was shocked at the decision. “Look,” he said, “just yesterday everything was gravy and we were talking about how to kick things back into gear next season. I don’t know what’s happened between then and now, but it would seem I have no job.”

Saunderson was the 3rd manager to be fired during the course of the regular season, an AUNZBL record.

#

Southwest Division: February’s killer heat did nothing to separate the contenders in the Southwest. The Aces (15-11) and the Cavalry (16-10) were neck and neck, with Hobart (15-11) only a single game back. The Venom and Heat, while above .500, were effectively out of the running.

Northeast Division: At one point in the month the Roos (17-9) got to within 2 games of the Thunder (15-11), but the Thunder had extended the advantage to 4 by March 1.

NZ Division: The Metros (14-12) pulled 3 games further ahead of the Sluggers (11-15), while the Fury and Cowboys continued to sag.

Wildcard: The Sluggers were 11 games back, the Venom and Heat 12 and 13 respectively, so the wildcard race was down to the Cavalry, Aces and Prospects. Given that all 3 teams were in the running for the division title, there was likely going to be 1 very disappointed team come the end of the regular season, as they would probably have a better record than both the other division winners.

#

Mildren (.318/.411/.588, 38HR) and Snijders (.324/.420/.601, 37HR) were having it out for the title of HR King.

Lewis (.386/.474/.562, 18HR) had another opportunity to break Stewart Warwick’s batting average record (.380), set in 2022. His 9.1 WAR was 1.4 WAR above that of 2nd-best Snijders.

Rees (.291/.405/.524, 33HR) looked the best chance of achieving the runs-walks double-double. He currently had 84 runs and 89BB. Ramiro Madrigal (.230/.364/.342, 7HR) led the league in walks, with 95. Snijders’ 97 runs was best in that category.

Jayden Guthrie (17-6, 3.82 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) was having a breakout season, and was a good chance to hit 20 wins.

Teammate Luke Bodkin (14-6, 2.54 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) led the league in both ERA and FIP, as well as pitcher’s WAR (5.4).

Many fans thought Blue Sox pitcher Adam Quinn was the luckiest man in baseball. In 2038, for Melbourne and Cairns he put up a 9-21 record. In 2039, with Cairns, he went 6-20. After signing with Sydney he had himself a 1-17 record. He had been moved into the bullpen in February, but he was still the majority favourite to hit 20 losses.

Backhouse had 40 saves, 5 saves better than next best. His ERA, however, had jumped above 1.00, finishing the month at 1.02. His FIP was 2.28, his WHIP 0.93.

Standings, Mar 1

[Izz]

2040/2041 Season - March

Notable Performances

8 Mar: Adam Hunt cranked out 5 hits from 5ABs to help Canberra grab a valuable 5-3 victory over the Aces. The win saw Canberra 2 games behind the Prospects, with the Aces a further game back, having lost 5 on the trot.

13 Mar: Perth’s Russell Kwan went 5-5, including 2HR, in a mammoth 17-inning 7-6 loss to Christchurch. He also walked 4 times, to get on-base in all 9 plate appearances.

15 Mar: Lindsay Colson hit for the cycle in an 8-5 victory over Sydney.

17 Mar: Alistair Mildren had accomplished nearly everything a hitter could hope to accomplish in the game, but this day he hit for his 1st ever cycle. He got there thanks to a 9-run Venom 10th inning, where he walked and then hit a 2-run single to cap the accomplishment. The Venom ended up beating the Roos 11-3, after the game ended regular innings tied at 2.

17 Mar: The Thunder lost to Cairns, but still clinched the Northeast Division, thanks to a Newcastle loss mathematically eliminating them.

17 Mar: The Metros also wrapped up the NZ division, their thrashing of Sydney ensuring them the title. 2nd-place Whangarei also won, but were now too far out of the running.

18 Mar: While the Cavalry lost to the Bandits 9-8 and ended the day tied up with Hobart at the top of the Southwest, Ashley Snijders had reason to celebrate as he hit in his 20th straight game. He brought up the milestone with a solo HR in the 1st inning.

21 Mar: It would be either the Cavalry (1 game back in the Southwest now) or the Prospects (leading the division) who would be the wildcard team, the Aces’ loss meaning they were now out of contention for both.

21 Mar: Snijders’ hit streak was ended at 21 games.

24 Mar: It took until the final day of the season for the top 2 teams in the Southwest to be separated. The Prospects disposed of Sydney 4-2, while the Cavalry fell 5-4 to the Crocs to mean Hobart won the pennant and would go into their 2nd ever postseason as Division Winners.

Notable Injuries

3 Mar: Phillip Tinter (.281/.353/.497, 24HR) tore his meniscus, which doctors estimated would keep him out of baseball for 6 weeks. He would therefore be unavailable for the postseason, and his loss at this juncture was also a big blow for the Cavalry.

12 Mar: 34 y/o Raul Gomez, a free agent at season’s end, and a valuable part of the 2040 Aces lineup, ruptured his Achilles and would be out for some time. The Central American slugger had hit .282/.376/.504, with 19HR, in the season.

17 Mar: Now 4 games back in the division race and 3 games behind in the wildcard, the Aces lost Lou Stapleton (.282/.339/.409, 12HR) for the rest of the season with a torn abdominal muscle.

17 Mar: Mike Wurfel (.285/.333/.405, 12HR) would miss the Metros’ postseason thanks to an intercostal strain.

Media Watch

Rex Rees: Finished the season hitting .290/.403/.515, with 36HR. In March he hit .280/.391/.453, with 3HR. He ended up with 99 runs and 104 walks. Nobody else got close to the runs-walks double-double. He now had 368 career homers, 4 clear of Lockrey. He needed 30 to get ahead of next on the leaderboard, Axel Stennings, and 32 would give him 400.

Other Notes

Richard Lewis (.374/.461/.544, 20HR) won the batting title at a canter, though he fell short of Warwick’s longstanding record. His 20HR was his highest year total yet. He led the league in average, OBP, wOBA (.440), and batter’s WAR (9.8). He also accumulated 216 hits, for 2nd best in the league, and stole 31 bases, for 3rd best.

Alistair Mildren (.321/.413/.599, 45HR) might’ve missed the opening week of the season, but that didn’t stop him taking the HR crown by 5HRs. He also had a league-best slugging %, RBI (125), runs (111 - tied), ISO (.278), and total bases (364).

Ashley Snijders (.327/.423/.589, 40HR), led the league in OPS and XBH (80), and was tied with Mildren for most runs . He once again finished 2nd in the HR standings. He also had the 2nd-most RBI (122), 2nd-best OBP, SLG, wOBA (.425), WAR (8.7), ISO (.263), and total bases (359).

Alan Cobb (.353/.392/.421, 1HR) led the league in hits, with 218. 5 other players got 200 or more hits: Lewis, Manuel Mendoza (.308/.332/.433, 15HR, 212 hits), Connor Palmer (.316/.347/.394, 9HR, 211 hits), Bailey Pugsley (.316/.348/.390, 3HR, 207 hits), and Beau Riseley (.306/.354/.462, 22HR, 200 hits).

Jayden Guthrie got to 20 wins, doing so in his last start of the season. He finished the regular season with a 20-7 record, a 3.56 ERA, a 3.75 FIP, and a 1.20 WHIP, as well as 204 strikeouts in 220.0 IP.

Rowan Kalman (10-9, 2.76 ERA, 3.22 FIP, 0.97 WHIP) led the league in WHIP, Ks (221), H/9 (7.10), K/9 (10.18), K/BB (6.31) and OAVG (.212).

Takashi the Tremendous (18-7, 2.84 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 1.08 WHIP) had the league’s best pitcher’s WAR, with 6.4.

Brodie Backhouse finished the season with 46 saves, and a 5-5 win-loss record. He struck out 117 in 82.0 IP across 72 games.

Standings, EORS

[Izz]

2040 Division Finals - Central Coast Thunder vs Hobart Prospects

2040 was only the 2nd time in the Prospects’ 20-year history that they had finished the regular season above .500. Not coincidentally, this was also the 2nd time they would play in the postseason. It was the 1st time they had won over 90 games, and the 1st time they had won their division.

They got there based on strong pitching. They had the 5th-best offense, but the 2nd-best defense. They only allowed 431 walks while striking out 1110, and conceding only 137HR.

The Thunder were also a strong pitching team, their defense 4th-best in the majors, their hitting only 9th-best.

What everybody was most excited about however, was that this season marked the 20-year anniversary for both teams, and both teams had made the postseason and would be playing each other. For the Thunder, this was their 1st trip through the playoff gates since the 2036 season. The Prospects’ sole appearance was back in 2031.

Game 1

The Thunder would trot out Richard Avery (14-9, 4.08 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.24 WHIP) to face 20-game winner Jayden Guthrie.

Trent Parsons got the scoring underway in the 2nd with a solo HR, and Haechen Lee hit another in the 3rd to make it 2-0. Angelo Brewster responded for Hobart with a solo effort of his own in the 4th to make it 2-1, and that was how the score remained until the 8th.

Guthrie retired the side in order, on 8 pitches, in the top of inning. Avery hit Raymond Scammell 1st up in the bottom of the inning to put the tying run on-base. Brewster singled, and both runners advanced a base on Connor Rowling’s ground out. Avery went to the showers, and reliever Vinnie Acheson walked Beau Trew to load the bases. Acheson got yanked, but replacement Jose Cruz gave up a single to pinch-hitter Oliver Martin, bringing Scammell home and tying the game up. David Ewin, also pinch-hitting, hit one to the warning track at leftfield. It was an out, but deep enough to score Brewster.

Suddenly Hobart were in the lead, and Backhouse had no dramas in the top of the 9th, retiring the side in order to save the game and see the Prospects win 3-2.

Hobart’s Calvin Garland was taken from the field injured in the 5th. No immediate diagnosis was forthcoming.

Game 2

While Guthrie had won 20 games, most analysts were of the opinion teammate 25 y/o Luke Bodkin was the better pitcher. Nicknamed ‘Puppet’ because at times it seemed as if he had the ball on a string, Bodkin was maturing into a master. He was 16-7 on the year, with a 2.60 ERA (best in the game), 3.09 FIP (also best in the league), and a 1.08 WHIP (4th best). His 189 Ks in 225.0 IP was good enough for 3rd most in the AUNZBL, and his 6.1 WAR was only behind Takeuchi.

Bodkin would face off against Stephen Snell (7-14, 4.50 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.27 WHIP).

The Thunder had a horror day in the field, making 5 errors, 3 of them to Haechen Lee. While Niccolo Ciaro had been included on the playoff roster, and was an excellent SS, apparently manager Vaughan Snijders wasn’t confident in the Italian’s ability to handle the pressure of playoff ball, so was playing Lee, a catcher and a catcher only, in the SS position.

Not that errors accounted for the Prospects’ opening barrage. Rookie Larry Quine led off the bottom of the 1st with a 432-foot solo HR over left centre. An out later, Brewster thumped another solo HR. Later in the inning, Rowling scored off the back of a Lee error. 3-0 Hobart. In the 5th, Brewster hit his 2nd HR of the night, a 2-run effort. Connor Rowling then reached off another Lee error, made 3rd after a terrible throw on a steal attempt and came home when the 2B bobbled a routine pickup. 6-0 Prospects. In the top of the 7th the Thunder finally got on the board, and Buffey hit a solo HR in the 8th. The Prospects scored again in the bottom of the inning, and the final score was 7-2 Hobart.

Bodkin came out of the game after only 3.1 IP, having thrown 89 pitches. He gave up 4 hits and 2 walks, but struck out 7. Caspar Greenway was awarded a save after he pitched the final 3 innings. Snell gave up 7 hits and a walk in 4 innings, K’ing nobody. 5 runs were scored off him, 4 of them earned.

Connor Rowling limped off in the 8th, but was diagnosed with only a mild hamstring strain. The off day would likely be enough to see him right. The news wasn’t so good for Calvin Garland. He had torn ligaments in his ankle and would miss the rest of the postseason.

Off Day

A host of contract extensions were announced this day, all surrounding players still under club control. The biggest announcement was the 3-year deal signed by Guthrie which would see him potentially remain a Prospect past the 1st year of his free agency eligibility.

Game 3

Logan Neilson (14-14, 3.96 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.18 WHIP) would take the mound for the Thunder, while former Central Coaster Bernie Limeburner (16-11, 3.17 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 1.26 WHIP) would do so for the Prospects.

When asked how he thought fan reception would be, seeing as he was pitching against his old team in a playoff game, Limeburner said, “A lot of booing to begin with, which will gradually decline. By the time the 8th comes around and I’m still on the mound, I reckon it’ll be pretty silent.”

Rowling showed no ill effects from his hamstring strain, crushing his 1-0 pitch in the 1st 445 feet over straightaway centre to put the Prospects up 2-0 (driving in Brewster who had walked).

In the bottom of the inning, Ciaro (selected for this game, and all smiles at batting practice) led off with an infield single. He advanced to 2nd when Guo-liang Liang got plunked, and then was lead runner in a successful double steal attempt, finally scoring off an error by the SS. 2-1 Hobart.

Both teams’ offense dried up at that point, and no further runs were scored until the 8th. Limeburner’s pregame prediction was eerily accurate, the Thunder crowd barely uttering a boo when he strode out to the mound in the 8th. In the top of that inning, the Prospects manufactured a 2-out insurance run as Logan Neilson tired and walked Brewster and Rolling. Reliever Acheson came in, got a groundball but Buffey couldn’t make the flip to the pitcher covering his base and the bags were loaded. Troy Orpen walked, bringing Brewster home to make it 3-1, before Acheson induced a 1st-pitch popup to get out of the jam.

Limeburner retired the side in order in the 8th, and even got a smattering of applause when he left at inning’s end. Backhouse came out to throw the bottom of the 9th and immediately struck out Buffey. Unfortunately, the ball got past Brewster and Buffey made 1st. Perhaps that was on Backhouse’s mind, because he offered up 2 over-the-plate fastballs in a row to Jesus Galindo. Galindo missed the 1st one, but made no mistake on the 2nd, sending it into the leftfield upper deck to tie the game up!

Neither side scored in the 10th or 11th. In the top of the 12th, Scammell led off with a single. Brewster also singled. Scammell headed for 3rd and the throw from the rightfielder was way off target. Scammell scored and Brewster took 2nd. However, while the Prospects were able to load the bases, they couldn’t bring any more home, ending the inning up 4-3.

But that was enough. Brock Blondell had pitched a scoreless 11th, and did the same in the bottom of the 12th, ending the inning, and series, on 10 pitches. 4-3 Hobart and they were off to their 1st Championship dance!

Limeburner was excellent through 8, allowing only 6 hits. While he only struck out 1, the majority of the contact off him was weak. The 1 run scored off him was unearned. Neilson was also good, allowing 4 hits and 4 walks in 7.2 IP, striking out 6. 4 runs were scored off him, 3 of them earned.

Hurler of the Series went to Limeburner.

Slugger of the Series was awarded to Brewster, who went .455/.600/1.273, with 3HR and 4BB.

[Izz]

2040 Division Finals - Canberra Cavalry vs Auckland Metros

Both the Cavalry and Metros finished with the same regular season record (95-67), but the Metros were a better home team (51-30), while the Cavalry were better on the road (49-32).

The Metros had the league’s best offense, and 7th best defense. The Cavalry, surprisingly, had the best defense of any AUNZBL team, and were 3rd-best offensively.

Most predicted the Cavalry to win this series comfortably.

Game 1

All Stars Allan Koka (16-8, 3.12 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.13 WHIP) and Brendan Pengilly (14-8, 4.53 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 1.32 WHIP) would face off in Game 1.

The Cavalry scored 2 in the top of the 1st (6-3, single, rbi-single, rbi-single, K, 5-3) to get the scoring started. Auckland responded immediately, Brock Wakely and Harry Hancock hitting back-to-back solo HRs to tie it all up.

Both pitchers exchanged punches until the bottom of the 6th, when Auckland put together a 4-run rally (single, steal followed by IBB, wild pitch followed by IBB, infield rbi-single, 2-rbi single, pitching change, F4, F8, rbi-single, F8) to end Koka’s night and take the score to 6-2. Koka allowed 7 hits and 2 walks for 6 earned runs, striking out 5.

Snijders pulled 2 runs back in the 8th with an enormous 450-foot HR over right field that ended up in Waitemata Harbour, but that was as close as they got, regular season starter and 18-game winner Chuk-yan Chin coming out to close the game and doing so on 11 pitches. 6-4 to Auckland for 1st blood in the series.

Pengilly threw 7 innings for the win. He allowed 7 hits and 1 walk, K’ing 4.

Game 2

Brayden Allomes (14-8, 3.97 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.22 WHIP) for the Cavalry, Cain Blenkhorn (19-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) for Auckland.

The Cavalry got off to a flying start, going single, steal followed by single, rbi-single, single, K, 2-rbi single, K, F8, to take an immediate 3-0 lead, Blenkhorn looking shaky in his 1st-ever postseason start. The Metros got 2 back in the bottom of the inning, going BB, rbi-triple, rbi-ground out, 4-3, F6.

While Blenkhorn continued to look nervous, Canberra couldn’t score any more off him. He threw 5.2 innings, giving up 10 hits and 1 walk for 3 earned runs. He struck out 6.

In the top of the 9th, with 2 outs, Ming’s single sparked a rally. Snijders walked, and both came home on Hutchinson’s double. Closer Rowan Belgrove gave up a 2-out walk to Charlie Buckland, but got a 7th pitch ground out off the next batter to end the game. 5-2 Canberra to even the series.

Allomes recovered from his 1st-inning jitters, going for 5 hits and 3 walks in 8 innings, for 2 earned runs. He struck out 3 and got the W.

Game 3

Takashi the Tremendous would take on Ian Zglinicki (18-9, 3.39 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.28 WHIP).

Maurice Fowler led off the bottom of the 1st with a solo blast over left to give Canberra an early lead, but the Metros got that run back immediately, 24 y/o Canadian Richard Mercier leading off the 2nd with a solo shot to right.

The Metros briefly took the lead in the 4th after Brock Wakely doubled to start the inning, advanced to 3rd on a ground out to 1st, then came home on a deep ground out to short. They held the advantage until the bottom of the 5th, when Wally Naylor doubled and came home on a Ming single 2 outs later.

Neither team could get much other offense going, until Canberra manufactured 2 runs in the 8th, 1 of them unearned. Rowan Belgrove allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the top of the 9th, but immediately got a double-play to end the game. 4-2 Canberra.

Takeuchi went 7.1 innings, conceding 8 hits and 1 walk, K’ing 4. Carlos Frost took the loss. Zglinicki earned his win, pitching 8 strong innings, for just 6 hits and 0 walks. He struck out 3.

Game 4

Koka and Pengilly would have at it again.

Koka had real trouble finding his spots in the 1st, hitting leadoff man Tommy Weichard. Weichard stole 2nd on the 7th pitch of Wayne Carson’s AB. Carson drew a walk next pitch and Wakely also walked, loading the bases. Hancock then became the 4th batter in a row to reach base without recording a hit, walking on 5 pitches, to make the score 1-0. The damage could’ve been a lot worse, but Mercier grounded into a double play (1 runner scoring in the process) and Buckland struck out chasing 1 in the dirt.

The Cavalry recovered those runs easily in the bottom of the inning (single, double, rbi-single, sac-fly) as Pengilly offered up some soft serves. 2-2 at the end of the 1st.

Cavalry DH Peng Chien slugged a 3-run HR in the 3rd to make it 5-2 Canberra. The Metros quickly made 5-4 in the 4th, then Canberra extended the score to 6-4 in the 5th thanks to a Hutchinson solo effort. The Metros went single, F7, single, BB, E6 scoring 1, K, rbi-single in the 6th to level the scores, then went ahead in the 7th thanks to a Mercier solo HR. They added an insurance run in the 8th, and could’ve had more if not for a controversial call at the plate that saw Wakely tagged out.

Chuk-yan Chin came out to throw the bottom of the 9th. He struck out Fowler, then allowed a single to Adam Hunt to bring up the meat of the Cavalry lineup. Ming hit a sharp groundball to short and Hunt’s slide broke up the double-play, then Snijders latched onto 1 deep to center, but not deep enough. Regulation fly ball, and the game was Auckland’s 8-6.

Both starters only threw 3.1 innings. Pengilly gave up 7 hits for 5 earned runs, striking out 2, while Koka allowed 5 hits and 4 walks for 4 earned runs and 1 strikeout. Chin picked up save #2 for the postseason.

Game 5

Back in Auckland for the decider and the pitching matchup would be Allomes v Blenkhorn, round 2.

For the 1st time in the series, the 1st inning passed without either team scoring. Both teams made up for it in the 2nd, though. Hutchinson led off with a single, advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, and scored off a Vinnie Widdison single. Widdison made 2nd on the throw home. Chien hit 1 straight to the shortstop who threw the ball way over the 1B’s head, which saw Widdison score. Seb Massingham then hit his 3-1 pitch over the leftfield fence to make the score 4-0.

Auckland responded with 3 of their own (6-3, single, single, HBP, 2-rbi single, sac-fly, F5), and the scoring stopped until the 5th, when Snijder’s 2-run jack ended Blenkhorn’s night. As they were wont to do, the Metros got those 2 runs back in the bottom of the inning. In the 6th, Auckland’s Weichard drew a leadoff walk, and Carson followed up with another walk. Wakely struck out, but Harry Hancock loaded the bases after getting plunked following a successful double-steal. Mercier struck out and it looked like the Cavalry might get out of the jam. Not so. Buckland tripled down the 3B line to give Auckland a 2-run lead.

In the 8th, Auckland’s offense busted out again, going K, single, double, F8, 2-rbi double, rbi-double, single, F4 to make it 11-6. An error in the top of the 9th with 1 out saw the Cavalry score 2 to get back into striking distance, but Chin strode to the mound and finished the game on 4 pitches. 11-8 Metros to see them progress to their 1st Championship round since 2029.

Chuk-yan Chin picked up Hurler of the Series. He was 3-3 in save opportunities, only allowing 1 baserunner in 2.2 IP.

Charlie Buckland was Slugger of the Series. He went .381/.409/.524. His 5-rbi in Game 5 was seen as a series-winning accomplishment.

[Izz]

2040 Championship Series - Auckland Metros vs Hobart Prospects

The Prospects had shocked all and sundry with their 2040 form and now found themselves 4 wins away from the big cherry, a Championship victory.

The Metros had performed much as expected. What surprised about the Metros was their defensive efficiency. They were ranked only 9th, with a .686 percentage. This despite their outfield of Harry Hancock (CF, +22.4 ZR), Charlie Buckland (RF, +17.8 ZR) and Tommy Weichard (LF, +13.0 ZR). In the postseason, Weichard (.285/.346/.436, 13HR) found himself playing 1B to accommodate Richard Mercier, who’d been called up from AAA midway through the season and hit .333/.383/.550, with 21 doubles, 1 triple and 17HR from 376PA. Mercier was adequate in LF (+2.1 ZR), but not able to pull off the spectacular plays Weichard made look standard.

Both teams had exactly the same road record, the Prospects having won 1 more game at home (52-29). The experts were split over this series, with the Metros perhaps slight favourites, given they’d be less likely to be overawed by the situation.

Game 1

The Game 1 matchup had the commentators salivating. Takeuchi versus Bodkin.

Both pitchers ran through their opposition without difficulty in the 1st, but Auckland got on the board in style in the 2nd. Hancock led off with a solo HR into the rightfield bleachers. Mercier followed up with a double off the centrefield wall. Buckland crowded the plate and took a pitch on the arm. Henry Gosselin then launched 1 over right-centre. An-shi Que, who’d put up a terrible -14.0 ZR over the course of season at CF, to go with a .898 efficiency, tracked it back, back, back to the wall. He leapt, but the ball went over his glove and over the fence. 3-run HR to make the score 4-0.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Drew Geoghegan walked on 4 pitches, advanced to 2nd on a 5-3 ground out, then came home an out later on a Scammell single to get the Prospects into the game.

Both pitchers got back into their rhythms after that, snuffing out any opportunities that arose. Takeuchi came out to pitch the bottom of the 8th, got a 1st pitch ground out from Que, then allowed back-to-back singles to Larry Quine and Scammell. Brewster hit a tame groundball to Phil Acret at SS and he went for the double play. Unfortunately, his flip to 2nd was well wide of the 2nd-baseman’s glove and not only was the double play opportunity lost, but there was no chance to get Brewster at 1st, either.

With the bases loaded and only 1 out, Takeuchi collected himself and struck out Connor Rowling on 4 pitches, getting him with a murderous screwball. However, he struggled to find the strikezone to Beau Trew, walking him on 5 pitches. A run (unearned) scored, taking the score to 4-2, with the go-ahead run at 1st. Once again Takeuchi took a few moments to organize his thoughts, taking his signature deep breaths while standing on the backside of the mound, then struck Troy Orpen out, getting him way out in front of a changeup.

Auckland couldn’t add any runs in the 9th and Chin came out in the bottom of the inning. He struck Alistair Tierney out on 3 pitches, induced a groundball from Geoghegan straight to 1B, then struck Que out to record his 4th save of the postseason. 4-2 Metros!

Bodkin allowed 7 hits in his 7 innings, walking none and striking out 6. Takeuchi conceded 5 hits and 3 walks in 8 innings, striking out 5.

Game 2

Pengilly v Guthrie.

The Metros got 2 men on-base in the 2nd with no outs, but couldn’t convert the opportunity. The Prospects didn’t get their 1st baserunner until the 3rd, when Alastair Tierney drew a leadoff walk. However Geoghegan, next up, hit the 1st pitch of his AB into a 6-4-3 double play. Que singled to keep the inning going, but Quine’s meek ground ball put paid to any thought of a 2-out rally.

In the 5th, Buckland hit his 2nd triple of the postseason, and came home 2 batters later on Acret’s single. 1-0 Metros. In the bottom of the inning, Geoghegan and Que got on-base with 2 outs, but again Quine could only hit a soft grounder for an easy out. Tierny doubled in the 7th, but then tried to steal 3rd and got caught. Gosselin and pinch-hitter Eddie Rollings both singled in the top of the 8th, but Weichard grounded into a double play to end the inning.

4 pitchers combined to pitch the bottom of the inning for the Metros. Pengilly retired Que, then retired to the showers. Reliever Brendan Knopp picked up the 2nd out, then was replaced by Alan Harney, who gave up a single to Scammell. Harney, in turn, was replaced by Quentin Warren. He got Brewster to hit a regulation ground ball to 2nd, but it took an awkward hop and Rollings, a catcher by trade who found himself fielding 2nd for some reason only known to his skipper, couldn’t gather it in. 2 runners on, and the chance for Hobart to tie or go-ahead. Rowling fought off a couple, then hit a firm line drive into right centre. However, Hancock cruised over and made the out to end the inning.

Rookie Wayne Carson, only 11 days past 22 y/o, led off the top of the 9th with a double into the corner at leftfield. Brock Wakely was intentionally walked, and Guthrie, who’d thrown 113 pitches to this point, was pulled. His replacement, Brock Blondell, froze up Hancock, and sent Mercier back swinging. Buckland didn’t waste any time, hitting the 1st pitch of his AB into right-centre for a single to load the bases. Gosselin fouled off 3 of the 1st 5 pitches of his AB before doubling down the 3B-line to score all 3 baserunners. Acret flied out, but the damage was done. 4-0 Auckland.

Warren stayed in and hit Beau Trew on a 2-2 pitch. Trew advanced to 2nd on a passed ball, then to 3rd on a ground out. However, Tierney struck out looking after fighting for 8 pitches and Geoghegan flied out to left to end the game. Hobart were unable to get on the board, or win at home, and the 4-0 victory put Auckland up 2-0 in the series.

Pengilly was excellent for the Metros, conceding 5 hits and 2 walks in his 7.1 innings. He struck out 4 and allowed no earned runs. Guthrie conceded 3 ER in 8.0 IP, giving up 8 hits and 2 walks, fanning 4.

Game 3

The Prospects faced a tough uphill battle, having lost both matches in their 1st home stanza, and now with 3 games in Auckland.

The Metros would put Blenkhorn on the mound, the Prospects Limeburner.

Hobart got on the board first, in the 3rd, by way of BB, fielder’s choice at 2nd (6-4), 5-3 advancing runner to 2nd, E5 (throw into the dugout) scoring runner at 2nd, K. The Metros equalized in the 4th thanks to a Prospects’ error by the rightfielder. 1-1.

Neither team could convert their minimal chances until the 7th, when Geoghegan’s 2-out single sparked a rally. Que doubled into the leftfield corner, and Geoghegan went from 1st to home to put Hobart ahead 2-1. Quine hit his 1st pitch over the rightfielder’s head for a double, scoring Que, then came home on Scammell’s single. Blenkhorn’s night was done and Warren retired Brewster on a groundball to 1st. 4-1 Hobart.

In the bottom of the 8th, leadoff hitter Hancock got plunked and an out later Buckland hit a 2-run HR into the rightfield stands. 4-3. The Prospects couldn’t add an insurance run in the top of the 9th and Backhouse came out to pitch the bottom of the inning. Eddie Rollings, pinch-hitting once more, led the inning off with a single wide of the shortstop. Weichard advanced him to 2nd on a sac-bunt. Carson struck out swinging, and Wakely drew a walk. Hancock’s single to left scored Rollings and tied the game up.

Into extra innings! Scammell led off the 10th with a single, and an out later Rowling walked. Unfortunately, David Ewin hit his 1st pitch directly to the shortstop, sparking a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Backhouse stayed on the mound, and Buckland lofted one to the warning track at centre for the 1st out. Next up, Gosselin went one better, pulling one into the rightfield bleachers for a walk-off, Championship-game winning HR. 5-4 Auckland to put them 1 victory away from taking it all.

Blenkhorn threw 6.2 innings, conceding 7 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs (3 earned). He K’d 4. Limeburner also K’d 4, throwing 6 innings, giving up only 4 hits and 3 walks for 1 unearned run.

Game 4

Before the game, the Metros announced Brock Wakely had signed a 1-year extension.

Hoping to close it out in straight sets, Auckland put Takeuchi back on the mound on 3 days’ rest. Hobart went with Randolph Anderson (8-12, 4.76 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.48 WHIP), a pitcher who didn’t throw hard, but was generally excellent at picking his spots.

He didn’t pick his spot so well when pitching to leadoff hitter Weichard in the bottom of the 1st, his 2-2 splitter sailing nicely over the middle of the plate for Weichard to drive opposite field and over the rightfield fence for a HR. In the 2nd, Acret reached after the catcher’s throw to 1st went astray and an out later Weichard got another pitch to hit on a 2-2 count, this one a lazy cut fastball that he pulled into the top of the lower leftfield stand. 3-0. Buckland got in on the act in the 3rd, his solo effort taking the score to 4-0.

Anderson settled down somewhat after that, the next scoring coming in the 6th, when Hancock scored on a throwing error by the rightfielder. He’d singled, and looked to take 3rd on Blair Ottaway’s single. Orpen’s throw was wild so he did better than 3rd, coming home.

Meanwhile, Takeuchi was in another class, never looking troubled. After concluding the top of the 7th, a group of fans who’d made their way to the barrier waved a bottle of Tremendous Wine at Takeuchi and he jogged over and let them take some pictures of him, them and the wine.

At the beginning of the 7th, Kelvin Ackland had subbed in at 1B, to a rousing reception. Almost at the 37 year mark, Ackland had hit .281/.342/.404 in 2040, from only 187PA, mostly as a pinch-hitter and late-inning sub. He’d got on the field in the Cavalry series, but only once, as a 9th-inning defensive replacement. Here, he would get at least 1 AB. Every one of his onfield teammates ran over and shook his hand as he took the field. And he looked as spry as a 24 y/o, swooping on a Brewster ground ball and flicking to the pitcher covering the bag for the 1st out of the inning.

The game exploded in the 8th. Anderson was still on the mound for Hobart, and got Buckland to fly out to left for the 1st out. Then Hancock tripled, and Ackland volleyed a single into right-centre, bringing Hancock home. Anderson left the mound, having given up 11 hits in 7.1 innings. He’d walked none and struck out 4. Acret and Bebbington both singled to load the bases, and then Ackland hurried home on a wild pitch. Weichard walked, and Acret scored on a sac-fly as Que stole a Grand Slam from Gosselin, the wall-climbing catch a sheer act of desperation. Wakely’s single scored Bebbington, and then Mercier drove one into the leftfield bleachers for a 3-run HR. In his 2nd AB of the inning, Buckland singled, and then made 3rd after a wayward throw on his steal attempt. Hancock hit a grounder to 1st which wasn’t handled and Buckland scored. Ackland singled to be 2-2, and Acret walked, loading the bases yet again. Pinch-hitter Carson singled, scoring Hancock, and then Weichard flied out to finally end the inning.

When the dust had settled the Metros’ crowd was in full party mode and the score was 14-0. Takeuchi recorded the 1st out of the 9th, and then Brendan Knopp picked up the last 2. A walloping to end the series, the Metros deserved champions in a sweep.

Takeuchi allowed only 5 hits and no walks in 8 innings, striking out 5. Every Metros’ player who got to the plate recorded a hit. The team’s victory lap took over half an hour, everybody taking turns to hoist and carry Takeuchi and Ackland.

Takeuchi took out Hurler of the Series, allowing only 10 hits, 3 walks and 1 earned run in 16.1 IP. He won both his starts and struck out 10.

Slugger of the Series went to Henry Gosselin. He hit .500/.500/.938, including 2HR and 8RBI.

[Izz]

The 2040 Championship-winning Metros

[Izz]

2040 Leaderboards

[toxicavenger74]

I'm addicted to this dynasty. I clicked on this for the baseball but I'm refreshing and refreshing to find out about the moon base. Those poor brave souls.

[Izz]

Originally Posted by toxicavenger74

I'm addicted to this dynasty. I clicked on this for the baseball but I'm refreshing and refreshing to find out about the moon base. Those poor brave souls.

Thank you very much. I'm glad you're enjoying it

And, as it turns out, there will be an update about the moon base soon!

[Izz]

Retirement Class of 2040

Some of the players who retired during or at the end of the 2040 season were:

Fu ‘Trapper’ Lao. 42 y/o, SP. 2020-2040. Over 20 years major league service time. 190-196, 12 saves, 3.96 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 2483 Ks. 6-time All Star, and 2 Championships with the Roos (2022, 2024). Finished 3rd on the all-time wins list, and 1st on the all-time losses list. Retired 1st on the all-time starts leaderboard (495), as well as all-time strikeout leader, and most career innings pitched (3409.1). He had also allowed the most hits (3376), and walked the 2nd-most (1029). Led the league in wins in 2024. While it was unlikely he would find his way into the AUNZBL Hall of Fame, and sad that he never quite reached the gaudy heights some thought he was capable of, Lao would be remembered fondly by most, certainly for his longevity, and likely for his fighting spirit, too.

Sugimoto Okubo. 40 y/o, SP. 2027-2039. Before Takashi the Tremendous there was Sugimoto Okubo, who entered the AUNZBL as a free agent from Japan in 2027. 115-99, 3.75 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.27 WHIP, 1202 Ks. 5-time All Star, 1 Championship with the Cowboys in 2030. His 2.18 ERA in that same year was still a season-best mark.

Mario Martinez. 36 y/o, SS. 2024-2039. .262/.327/.389, 1979 hits, 886 runs, 388 doubles, 15 triples, 180HR, 914RBI, 742BB. Fell just short in his quest to be the 1st foreign-born player to reach the 2000 hit mark. 4-time All Star, 3-time Gold Glover. No rings.

[Izz]

2040 Awards

Gold Gloves

Pitcher: Adam Gillorn (Brisbane Bandits)
Catcher: Arnold Tipping (Perth Heat)
First Baseman: Jake Mekville (Wellington Fury)
Second Baseman: Will Mossop (Sydney Blue Sox)
Third Baseman: Ramiro Madrigal (Perth Heat)
Shortstop: Niccolo Ciaro (Central Coast Thunder)
Left Fielder: Russell Kwan (Perth Heat)
Center Fielder: Harry Hancock (Auckland Metros)
Right Fielder: Charlie Buckland (Auckland Metros)

Rookie of the Year

24 y/o Greg Stanley of the Aces. .310/.360/.527, 163-526, with 35 doubles, 2 triples, and 25HR. His WAR was 3.3, his VORP 42.0.

23 y/o Adam Hunt (.315/.375/.430, 9HR) of the Cavalry was runner-up, while 24 y/o Cowboy Bernie Grinter (.262/.341/.445, 20HR) came 3rd.

Skipper of the Year

There could be no winner this year other than Oliver Chambers. Chambers, Whangarei’s inaugural skipper, who’d then worked as a 3B coach for Hobart's AAA-affiliate in 2039 before getting called up to manage the Prospects, led Hobart to a 96-66 record, their 1st Division title and their 1st Championship appearance. The fact they got swept in the Championship series was immaterial. Chambers was the man, and he said in his acceptance speech that he planned “to ride this wave for as long as possible.”

Hurler of the Year

Everybody was sure this award was a race between Bodkin, Guthrie and Takeuchi. The question was how they’d finish up. Before the postseason, the popular result was Guthrie, Bodkin, Takeuchi, with those claiming to be more astute analysts of the game saying it would be Bodkin, Guthrie, Takeuchi. After the Championship series, most opinions changed, with Takeuchi the odds-on favourite to take it out.

And he did. Takeuchi went 18-7, with a 2.84 ERA, a 3.47 FIP, and a 1.08 WHIP, notching up 161 strikeouts in 231.2 IP. His WAR was 6.4, his VORP 63.2.

Still, Awards Night wasn’t Awards Night if there wasn’t a surprise or two. Cain Blenkhorn (19-6, 2.93 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.17 WHIP) came 2nd, to the astonishment of many fans, with Guthrie pulling 3rd. Bodkin didn’t even make the final ballot.

Asked afterwards his thoughts on not getting a mention, Bodkin shrugged. “I didn’t win enough, I guess. And Takashi deserved it, no doubt. The way he pitched in the Championship was just out of this world.”

Takeuchi, whose English didn’t seem to have improved much in 3+ years in Australia, got through his acceptance speech by laughing a lot and waving a bottle of Tremendous Wines at the audience. He could’ve done whatever he wanted; everybody loved him.

Slugger of the Year

The night’s surprises weren’t done. Lewis was a sure thing to take out SotY, according to all and sundry, with a dedicated few barracking for Mildren.

Neither of them won it. 2038 SotY winner, Ashley Snijders, took the award home again. He was .327/.423/.589 on the year, racking up 199 hits, 40 of them doubles and 40 of them HR. He scored 111 runs, walked 94 times and had an OPS+ of 174. His WAR was 8.7, his VORP 86.9. A deserved winner, which everyone was quick to acknowledge, but an unexpected one.

Mildren (.321/.413/.599, 45HR, 8.7 WAR) came 2nd, while Lewis (.374/.461/.544, 20HR, 9.8 WAR) was 3rd.

[Izz]

2040 Career Leaderboards